Halley's pictorial Oak Park : containing street views, business blocks, street scenes, club houses, literary institutions, schools, churches, private residences, portraits of prominent citizens, together with historical and biographical sketches, descriptions, statistics, etc.

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

LIBRARY

ATURBANA-CHAMPAIGN
ILL, HIST. SURVEY

_

....CALL AND St:C....

E. E. ROBERTS
...ARcnrrecT...

N§ 9 DUNLOP'S BANK BUILDING
OAK PARK, ILL.

PHONE 1123

DESIGNER

... or....

HOMELIKE HOMES

IN

OAK PARK. RIVER TOREST.

AUSTIN
AND VICINITY

August Terneak & Co.

HANUFACTURERS OF

Carpets,

>J< Rugs, ^

and Curtains

PLUSH RUGS AND CARPETS

A SPECIALTY.

Made From
Old or New Scraps of
Carpet

126 LAKE STREET

OAK PARK, ILL.

Ladies will find it to their interest to patronize the
Oak Park Weaving Shop.

The Art of Wood Carpet Making

JON. DUNFEE.

104 FRANKLIN STREET.

Beautiful Woods Produce Fine Effects in Colors.

Hardwood floors have come to be regarded as indispensable in
in comfortable and well appointed homes. The growing tendency to
substitute them for carpets is owing partly to important sanitary
reasons, partly to the demands of cultivated and refined taste, and
partly to considerations of economy. An ornamental floor is of fa
greater utility than a common floor of hardwood, whether rugs ar
used or not. It constitutes an important and attractive feature o
modern interior decoration. Millions of feet of lumber from all part
of the world are used annually. It is claimed by the men engagi
in this line of work, that hardwood flooring in the long run, is eight
times as cheap as carpet. An ordinary sized room can be laid for
from $25.00 to $40.00, the price going as high as one wishes, the cost
depending upon design and variety of material.

Mr. Ounfee is an old resident of Chicago, having come here in
1868 from New Jersey, where he was born in 1842. He took up his
residence in Austin in 1872, where he has amassed a large quantity of
property. He was the first to engage in the Wood Carpet Business,
of which he is the founder, and has been engaged in it since 1873.

Congleton & Abbott

124 & 126 MARION STREET

THE POPULAR

Livery and Boarding
Stables

TELEPHONE 21

OAK PARK,

ILLINOIS

William S. Johnston & Sons

Carriage and Wagon
Manufacturers....

Give special attention

to Carriage Repairing, /3i|\

Trimming and \2^/

Painting

.^^ Do also a General

(SpQ Blacksmithing

^2V Business

Bicycles Built
to Order

COLUMBIA

Chain and
Chainless Wheels

At all prices for
sale and to rent

Best facilities in

Oak Park

for Storage of

Bicycles

First-Class
Up-to-date
Tandems and
Single Wheels
to Rent.

Electrical material for sale
and repairing done

WRIGHT ELSOM, Jr.

117 Marion Street
Near the Post Office. ....OAK PARK.

BUY ONE OF OUR New Modern Houses
Built upon 50 feet of ground.

$3.000 to $3,500 will buy a home you will be
proud of. You can pay for it, $50 cash and
$25 per month will do it. No extra interest.

Our homes are built in the beautiful suburb of

MAYWOOD

which offers all modern conveniences. Best of Artesian

water. Sewerage and Electric Lights. Paved walks, Cement

walks. Churches, Schools, Stores,

TWO LINES OF RAILROAD

Chicago and Northwestern Railroad (Wells Street Depot)
Chicago Great Western Railroad (Fifth Ave, and Harrison St.)

Madison Street Electric Cars

Stone Foundations, Cement Basements. Parquet Floors,

Oak Trimmings and Mantels, Nickel Plumbing. Bathrooms

Complete. Broad Verandas, Tasty Painting.

Proviso Land Association

34 Clark Street, Chicago.

19th and St. Charles Aves,, Maywood

E. A. CUMMINQS )

H. Q. FOREHAN ^-Trustees

JAS. J. ncCARTHYi

EUGENE H. FISHBURN, Secretary
Win. M. HULBERT, Manager

HALLEY'S

PICTORIAL OAK PARK

CONTAINING

STREET VIEWS, BUSINESS BLOCKS, STREET SCENES, CLUB HOUSES, LITERARY INSTITUTIONS, SCHOOLS,

CHURCHES, PRIVATE RESIDENCES, PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT CITIZENS, TOGETHER WITH

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, DESCRIPTIONS, STATISTICS, ETC.

WILLIAM HALLEY, PUBLISHER,

OAK PARK, ILL.

PREFACE.

(H I HIS little work is only a humble beginning-. It by no means fills the comple-
J I ment of Oak Park's many merits. To the author its preparation has been
^i_I_ a labor of love. It is only a sample of what is in store for the admirers
of the town, and of what is to come hereafter. The effort has been to
accomplish all that is possible for a popular price, and put the work within the
reach of all, that it may have a wide circulation and be a valuable advertisement.
I think it will be admitted that the views are all striking- and the portraits life-
— -like. The few chapters of history that are presented are correct and valuable, and
I only regret that space and time compels me to curtail the volume of information.
This work is a necessity. It is at once a souvenir, an advertisement and a
record. It will make a handsome table ornament; it will make an appropriate pres-
ent for friends at a distance; and it will stir up some local pride and emulation.

To the many friends who have kindly encouraged me with their patronage and
with their names as subscribers in advance, I am exceedingly grateful. For the
shortcomings of the work I bespeak kindly consideration, and promise to do better
next time. TRE PUBLISHER>

IJI'SI XKSS SUCTION T^«.kini!- West on Lake Street from Park PI;

WHAT OUR HISTORY CONSISTS OF.

Oak Park history is not strongly marked nor notably eventful. It is a story of first beginnings and
quiet and assured progress. The arts of peace are the only arts that have ever been cultivated here. We
have never been belligerent, even in the best of causes. We have not developed any marked peculiarity
in the way of municipal methods, mentality, politics or religion. No one has distinguished our town by
being the especial apostle of any particular species of doctrine or ethics. We have given to the world no
hero, no great genius ; we have cultivated no species. Our only claim is that by purpose and perseverance
we have built up a beautiful town that is possessed of every home advantage. What might have been a
reproach in the way of selling intoxicants we got rid of at an early date, and Oak Park has been always a
temperance town since the country taverns and "mile" houses were abolished.

Cutting down forest trees and planting ornamental ones, laying out, grading and paving streets,
building sidewalks, constructing ditches, drains and sewers, has been one constant practice of our people.
Platting subdivisions and putting them in the market has been another. Providing cheap and frequent
means of transportation to and from the city of Chicago is one particular thing that we have never lost sight
of. Our people have contributed most freely and effectually to the providing of schools, churches, literary
institutions and means of recreation. Whatever domestic battles have ever been fought here have been
on behalf of progress and better conditions, and no feeling of hostility animates any portion of our people.
We have reclaimed the wilderness, have set up the standard of civilization, and now freely offer of what
we have to those who appreciate our labors and are desirous of joining with us in the good work of making
life more enjoyable, time more precious and results more certain. Our soil is good, our air and water are
pure, our methods are in accord with the demands of enlightenment, and we aim to obtain the best possible
results that an advanced community can wish for. Our history is free from splashes of blood and acts of
violence, and open a chapter where you will, there is nothing visible that is revolting or gross. So we hope
to have it continue to the end. We do not boast of any "flush times" nor lament any ruinous depres-
sions. The town has never gone backward even in the worst of times, nor has an epidemic of any kind
ever decimated our population, as -they have always observed hygienic laws.

4

DELIGHTFUL INDUCEMENTS.

Oak Park is located eight miles west of the Chicago river, with an abundant elevation. It is a bower
of beauty. It is the home of luxury and refinement. Here education flourishes and religion and temper-
ance triumph. There is no place for anything that savors of discord or disorder. Saloons are excluded.
Animals are not allowed to roam at large, and a hog or a cow is never seen on a street. The streets are
always cleanly kept. One feels relaxation and comfort within its borders and along its shaded walks. The
eye is ever pleased with the appearance of beauteous objects. Gayly dressed children run and romp, and
the air is vocal with the music of their sweet voices.

Churches, schools and society halls meet the eye at every turn. Whether it be of material wants,
commercial facilities, educational requirements, spiritual desires, social economics, political propaganda,
art, music or literature, there is an abundance of all to be found here. Shade trees and shrubbery enrich
the scenery. The boulevards, avenues and streets are broad, well paved and well ordered.

Many of the houses of Oak Park are palatial. Every modern style of architecture prevails and pleases
the imagination and the eye. The "yards" are capacious and ever green, and generally gemmed with
flowers. There are no manufactories, excepting such as are desired for building purposes.

One of the first considerations for a suburban city is cheap and rapid transit. Oak Park has this.
Two steam railroads (the Chicago & North-Western and Chicago & Great Western) carrying suburban
passengers, run through it and have convenient stations. One elevated railroad line, with a five-cent fare,
carrying passengers from the western extremity of the town to Chicago and around the "loop " is about
ready for business; another trolley line doubles the town, and will soon encircle it; five other trolley lines ply
on principal thoroughfares, putting us in communication with Chicago and neighboring villages, so that
this beautiful city has nothing further to desire in the way of transportation facilities.

Within a few minutes' ride of Oak Park to the east is the beautiful Garfield park of Chicago. To the
west of it, a mile distant, is the Des Plaines river, with its romantic windings, banks of grass and shrub-
bery, and pleasant paths. The woods of River Forest are of easy access and always open to the stroller,
while fields that are Elysian are spread about as if for a feast for eyes.

r

TMXKs-, S|.;CTI<>\ O.rnrr Marion Strivl :nnl North Iloulcrnrd.

The dimensions of Oak Park are three miles, north to south, and one and one-half miles, east to west.
The handsome city of Austin stands between it and the metropolitan limits. Oak Park is just far enough
from Chicago, but not too far. The theaters and other places of amusement can be reached in forty
minutes. Hotels and boarding- houses are numerous and good, and the town is especially sought as a
delightful place for summer residence.

The main arteries of Chicago that run west are the principal streets of Oak Park— Chicago avenue,
Lake street, Madison street, Adams street, Twelfth street, etc.

The water used is supplied by nine artesian wells of great depth, and is abundant. Both gas and
electric light are used for illuminating purposes, and gas is extensively used for heating and cooking
purposes.

Oak Park has a hearty welcome for all new comers. Her hospitality is warm and her lots are cheap.
If not here already, come and join us.

OAK PARK'S EARLY RIVAL.

Before Oak Park had burst its shell a gentleman named John Henry Quick, a retired merchant who
resided in New York, commenced investing in western real estate, and taking a fancy to the beauty of the
land in this locality, bought the farm which a pioneer named Whaples owned, immediately west of that
belonging to Joseph Kettlestrings at the Oak Ridge. That was in 1856. There was then no municipal
control established, and Mr. Quick had his own way in everything. He named the streets; he laid out the
blocks; he built the sidewalks.

In 1849 the Chicago & Galena Union railroad (now the Chicago & North-Western) established a
station at the corner of what is now Central avenue and William street in this locality. Opposite to this, in
1856, Mr. Quick built a two-story hotel, and Mr. Israel Heller put up a store building at the corner of Lake
and William streets, which he occupied himself, with his sister, Mrs. Kate Pattock, as partner. Mr. Quick
also built a private residence on Lake street, near to where Pioneer Whaples'. log house was erected.

The east and west streets were Railroad avenue (now Central avenue), and Lake street was Pennsyl-
vania avenue. Madison avenue remains the same. The north and south streets were nearly the same as
now, only that Harlem avenue was Washington avenue. John, Henry and William streets — family names
— remain unchanged.

Mr. Quick proceeded slowly to build up his town. He needed a postoffice. The postoffice that then
served a large section of country in Cicero and Proviso was located on the west side of the Desplaines
river at the "Ten Mile House," and was named " Noyesville." After some time Mr. Quick secured the
transfer of this to Harlem (retaining the old name), and it was located in the " Harlem House," under the
management of a Mr. Archdeacon. He tried to get the name changed to Harlem, but in this he failed,
because there was an office with the same name already established in Winnebago county, and the people
there could not be induced to give up that name for any other.

Mr. Quick was a pious minded man, and he next turned his attention to the establishment of a church.
An Episcopal congregation was got together in 1862, which at first held service in the brick school house in
River Forest, and afterward in a room adjoining the hotel. Its first rector was a Rev. Alexander Ful-
lerton, who came from Philadelphia, and who now figures as "general secretary and treasurer of the
Theosophical Society of America." In 1867 Christ church, which is situated at the northwest corner of
Lake and John streets, was built and opened for service, Mr. Quick's liberal contribution being the chief
factor in its building. He also contributed largely to paying the minister's salary. The enterprising
gentleman also erected a row of tenement houses on Madison avenue, one block north of Lake street,
which had its origin in a barn, and which came to be known as "The Barracks." He also built the
"double house " on Lake street, which underwent many mutations — from elevator to barn, from barn to
store, from store to private house, and finally the "double house."

In I860 there came to Harlem, from his Proviso farm, an intelligent and enterprising gentleman
named Augustin Porter, who built the first brick house in the place — that on Central avenue, corner of
John street — and in front of which the railroad station was afterward placed. The house has since been
largely added to, and is now occupied by Judge Porter's daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Moore Furbeck and her
daughter and son-in-law, Mrs. and Mr. A. M. Titus. Judge Porter was a justice of the peace for Proviso

10

EJL-S1NKSS SKCT10N Oak Park A

township, and held court in an adjoining- frame building-, which came to be known as "Porter's Court
House." Judge Porter also erected the house now occupied by Mr. Geo. Vorass as a grocery store, at
89 Lake street, in 1866. He also erected one of the first houses in Oak Park, at the northeast corner of
Lake street and Harlem avenue, which was moved back on the lot when Steiner's store was built on the
same spot. Judge Porter died in 1880.

Mrs. Kate Pattock, afterward Mrs. William Steiner, when she separated in business from her
brother, Israel Heller, set up for herself in Quick's store building-, now the "double house," which had
previously been used for trading purposes by Mr. J. H. Furbeck. The frame house now occupied by
Mrs. Sturgess, a little west of John street on Central avenue, was built by Mr. Jonas McCreary, and is the
oldest house on that old street. The first meat market was carried on by Christian Schlund, before he
removed across the line to Oak Park. The hotel building- was removed from Central avenue to Lake street,
and its present owner is Mr. A. Westphal, who now carries on a bottling business in the west wing of it,
which he built and used for a grocery store for several years. The hotel has not been used as such for
four or five years, River Forest having become a prohibition village. Some of the prominent former
residents of the old town were Mr. and Mrs. Spitzer, father and mother of Mrs. Whaples; Mr. and Mrs.
Chas. Roe and Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Harvey. Among the old residents who still reside there are
Christian Schlund, H. H. Scharenberg, Frank Hillmer and A. Westphal.

Mr. J. H. Quick, the father of the town, died in New York in 1872, and his son, J. H. S. Quick, was his
heir. It was hard to do business with the elder Quick, but it became a great deal harder to have trans-
actions with his son, who is a lawyer. The people became discouraged. The postoffice was taken away,
the railroad station was removed, and even Christ church congregation became dissatisfied, withdrew and
organized Grace Episcopal church in Oak Park in 1879. Mr. J. H. S. Quick retired from the scene after his
house was burned down, taking up his residence in Chicago, but coming out every Sunday to read prayers
in the old church, which he still keeps open, aided by a few old and faithful adherents. The little old post-
office building on the north side of Lake street, opposite WestphaPs, where Mr. Pack last had the Noyes-
ville postoffice, was torn down two or three years ago, and the glory of old Harlem departed.

12

THE EARLY PIONEERS.

When Joseph Kettlestring-s first cast his anxious eyes on the Oak Ridge in 1833, there was not a vest-
ige of civilization visible. Chicago itself was only an outpost village of a few inhabitants, lately arrived.
There were no railroads, no country roads. There were, however, few Indians to fight, no trees to blaze
for pathways through dense forests, but still, the pioneers, who are always regarded as "God's own
people," had hardships enough to endure. The land was not yet pre-empted nor open for settlement,
and those who had settled were simply " squatters."

About a mile from the Oak Ridge, on the Aux Plaines river (now Desplaines) in the year 1831, an
adventurous Englishman named George Bickerdike, with a partner named Mark Noble, Jr., ventured to
start a small saw mill, which did a precarious business, as the consumers of lumber were " few and far
between." This man Bickerdike left behind him in Yorkshire a friend with the rather peculiar name of
Kettlestrings, whom he invited to join him in the " Prairie State," then the foremost " Land of Promise "
in America.

In 1833 Joseph Kettlestrings, the man alluded to, a sturdy specimen of a "Britisher," accompanied by
a willing helpmeet and three rosy children, appeared upon the scene. Kettlestrings went to work with his
friend Bickerdike in the saw mill and became a partner in the concern. Here he continued for two years,
his wife in the meantime " boarding the hands."

In 1835, when the land was open for pre-emption, he purchased the quarter section known as the Oak
Ridge, and he chose it because " it was the only dry land between Chicago and the Aux Plaines." Here he
built a house. It was of oak boards. It was on the spot where is now Mr. Walther's residence, 114 and
116 Lake street. This was the first house of any kind ever built in Oak Park. It was the first sign that
civilization had reached here. To this house, it is said, Mr. Kettlestrings built an addition of two rooms,
one for a dining room and one for a bar room, and started a tavern, which he christened the "Oak Ridge
House." It answered to nine miles from Chicago. It was not a very comfortable abode, because the oak-
boards warped and "let in the weather." His land entry consisted of 173 acres, and he received his

14

STREET SCENES.

government patent for it March 30, 1837. The locality soon got the name of " Kettlestring-s' Grove." The
sale of the public lands caused more travel and business for the tavern, but in 1837 Mr. Kettlestrings
rented it to a man named George Scofield, who kept it for a few years, Mr. Kettlestrings building another
house for himself on a portion of the land further to the east, and pursuing farming. Scofield subsequently
removed to York Center, where he started a tavern and died.

In 1843 Mr. Kettlestrings took a long departure from his oak grove home, and lived in Chicago with
his family for twelve years. This was mainly for the purpose of educating his children, who had become
numerous. In Chicago he was mostly engaged at corporation work, opening up and grading new streets.
He returned to his farm in 1855. From this year dates progress in town building, but the progress was
mostly on the land adjoining his on the west — on that purchased of Mr. Whaples by Mr. J. H. Quick,
as already described.

The second settler in Oak Park was Mr. Reuben Whaples, who came here in 1845. He had been
farming in the town of Proviso, or as it was then known, "Lyons Precinct," about a mile from what was
afterward known as the "big slough." A great wind, or tornado, such as is now described as a cyclone,
swept through the settlement that year, as all the old settlers well remember, and carried off Mr.
Whaples' house, as well as all his other belongings, and scattered them widely over the unlimited prairie.
He determined he would remain there no longer. With the assistance of Mr. Ashbel Steele, who resided
on the east side of the Desplaines river, he recovered what he could of his effects and removed to Kettle-
strings' grove, settling on the quarter section immediately west of Kettlestrings' line. Here he built
him a very substantial log house that no big wind could blow away. The family found shelter in Steele's
until this structure was finished. The material for its building was at hand, growing on the ground. Mr.
Whaples sold this beautiful property to Mr. J. H. Quick, of Harlem, N. Y., on which to start his town
of Harlem, and Mr. Whaples purchased a portion of Mr. Kettlestrings' farm for a home. He erected
a frame house which is now a portion of the Presbyterian church manse on Lake street. Mr. Whaples
died Oct. 20, 1865.

An early settler was Mr. Ralph Wade, an Englishman, who came here from Buffalo, N. Y., in 1852.

16

STKKKT SCKXKs.

He farmed on the spot now known as Fair Oaks. He worked for Mr. Kettlestrings for a while, and also
as g-ardener for Mr. H. W. Austin. He died in 1893, at an advanced age, leaving one son and six grand-
children. His son, Robert James Wade, who died in 1897, was born on the spot now occupied by the
Scoville Institute in 1853, and was forty-four years of age. Three daughters and two sons of the latter
now reside at 310 Ontario street, at their father's and grandfather's last place of residence.

Mr. Ferdinand Haase, the well known president of Forest Home cemetery, who had just arrived from
Germany, visited this locality in 1849, and his description of conditions at that time is vejry interesting.
He says the only persons he remembers residing at or near Oak Park were the Whaples family and the
Steele family on the east side of the Desplaines river. The Kettlestrings were then in Chicago. The
Chicago & Galena Union railroad was in course of construction, and had got as far as the Desplaines river.
He had been a soldier in the Prussian army, and brought a rifle with him. He was a harness maker by
trade, but could work at anything. The first job he " struck " in Chicago was taking charge of a load of
building materials, placed on a flat car, and piled up around his person, and which was to be unloaded
by him at its destination at the Desplaines river. In performing this task he had a very unhappy time
of it. The car shook terribly. The boards and scantlings closed in upon him in an almost inextricable
manner, nearly killing him. He had no assistance in unloading, and the train men were angry because he
did not get the job done sooner They wanted to return to Chicago, but would not lend a hand. It was
not until 1851 that he located permanently in Harlem, where he had been preceded by a Frenchman
named Bourassa, an Indian trader, of whom he bought fifty-five acres of land, situated on the east bank
of the river, and about a mile and one-half south of the oak grove. He subsequently added other acres
until he had 200, and started stock farming, at which he was successful. Most of the land was covered
with water, and in winter time he used to skate all the way from his home to Chicago. In summer the
prairie was covered with a growth of wild sunflowers, so high that a horseman riding through them could
only be distinguished by his head bobbing up and down as he rode along. Butchers would come out
from the city and buy his steers, not only on the hoof, but hunt them up for themselves in the prairie
wilderness, without mark or brand. These men he trusted, and accepted their accounting as to number

18

STERRITT SCHOOL

and weight implicitly. Reptiles were very numerous, and killing rattlesnakes was a daily occupation.
The ground was so soft that only oxen could be used to any purpose in farming. Mr. Haase found on his
first purchase an Indian burying ground, consisting of large mounds, in which were deposited many
relics, which he has preserved in a museum at Forest Home cemetery. As this is not designed as a life
of Mr. Haase, his many enterprises and efforts after he took up his residence here are not referred to.

Mr. Abram Gale was a pioneer of Chicago and Oak Park. He came to Chicago in May, 1835, with his
family. The first public sale of lands took place June 15, 1835, when every alternate section of a strip ten
miles wide, and extending from Chicago far into the country, was sold. He attended the sale and
purchased 320 acres in the south part of Jefferson, about three miles from the oak grove, which he subse-
quently platted for a town, and called it Galewood. Here he erected a house, but never resided there with
his family, living and doing business in Chicago. Galewood, although a most advantageous spot, did
not flourish, and in 1863 Mr. Gale moved with his family to Oak Park. Mr. Abram Gale died in Oak
Park at the advanced age of ninety-four years, in 1888, and was buried in Graceland cemetery. His son,
E. O. Gale (with whom Abram Gale resided) came here in 1863 with his family, and has been a prominent

citizen ever since.

* * *

Ashbel Steele came to Chicago in 1833, when there were very few houses to be seen there. He moved
to River Forest, and settled as a farmer on Section 12 of Proviso, in 1836, and was the westerly neighbor
of Kettlestrings and Whaples. He, in connection with Judge Theophilius W. Smith, was owner of the saw
mill after Bickerdike & Noble. He was sheriff of Cook county in 1842-43, and subsequently kept a hotel
at River Forest, about the spot where Judge Humphreville's residence is now on Lake street, north of the
railroad depot. This house, which was called the Montezuma hotel, was quite a resort for city gentlemen,
but it did not prove a very profitable investment. Mr. Steele was a most excellent gentleman and good
neighbor. He died in 1861, leaving a widow and several sons and daughters, who are well known and
respected. Two of his daughters died last winter of pneumonia, at the old farm house in River Forest,
greatly regretted. Mr. Steele was for a while the Noyesville postmaster.

20

James Worswick, a native of England, now living and aged eighty-two years, settled in Harlem as a
farmer in 1850. His son, Thomas J. Worswick, now residing in Oak Park, was then nine years of age.
He was married to Jane Elizabeth, third daughter of Joseph Kettlestrings, December 26, 1864. Another
son is W. H. Worswick, who resides at 418 Harlem avenue, Oak Park. A son named Sandham, with whom
the elder Worswick now lives, resides in Chicago. Several grandchildren reside in Oak Park.

Here we have to draw the line on the early pioneers.

SUBDIVIDING.

When Mr. Kettlestrings returned from Chicago to Oak Ridge in 1855 he commenced dividing up his
property and selling it, like his new neighbor, Quick. As far back as 1848, when the railroad was started,
he sold to R. K. Swift thirty acres. This Swift sold in 1853 to S. P. Skinner for $3,000, or $100 per acre.
In May, 1856, Skinner sold lots Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 to Hugh G. Clark. December, 1856, Skinner sold nine
lots, Nos. 12 to 20, to W. W. Bemis and M. C. Niles. In September, 1857, lots 10 and 11 were sold by him to
the same parties. In March, 1860, Bemis quit-claimed to Niles his entire interest in the property; and in
April, 1863, Mr. Niles sold to Deloss Sweet lots Nos. 10 to 16 inclusive, and the west thirteen feet of No. 17.

Mr. Kettlestrings' subdivision was made September 25, 1856, in the southeast corner of the north-
west quarter of section 7. An addition to the plat was made in favor of R. Whaples in 1856; the balance
of the quarter section was divided afterward.

In 1866 James W. Scoville and M. C. Niles made a subdivision south of the railroad, and in 1868 James
W. Scoville subdivided the northeast quarter of section 7. In 1883 the entire area of Oak Park was
480 acres. It is now (1898) 2,880 acres. It extends from Division street to Twelfth street, three miles
north and south, and from Austin avenue to Harlem avenue (or Seventy-second street) east and west, one
and one half miles. That important section of Oak Park known as Ridgeland was subdivided and sold
by the late James W. Scoville. The only one of the subdividers mentioned in the foregoing now alive and
with us, is Mr. M. C. Niles, who seems good for many years yet. But there is a new generation of subdi-
viders that have taken their places.

INTERIOR VIEW OF OAK PARK CLUB HOUSE.

MUNICIPAL ORGANIZATION.

Oak Park is situated in the town of Cicero and county of Cook. It is of itself neither a town nor a
village — simply a part of the township of Cicero, which is at once both a village and a town — a-municipal
organization with a special charter.

The name of Oak Park dates only from 1871. It was originally known as " Kettlestrings' Grove";
then as "Oak Ridge," and finally, in 1871, as Oak Park; when the postoffice, which had been Noyesville,
and the railroad station, which had been Harlem, were changed to conform to the new name.

Oak Park has no local governing body of its own, but as a matter of political arrangement in dealing with
the other portions of the town, is entitled to three seats on the town board, which consists of seven members.
The village of Austin is usually accorded three representatives, and the south side villages one elective
representative between them. The village of Austin is the town seat. Cicero was originally six miles
square, and extended from Western avenue on the east to Harlem avenue, now Seventy-second street, on
the west. It is still six miles from north to south. Its greatest width is three and a half miles, and this
at its southern extremity; it is narrowest at its northern extremity, where it is only two and a quarter miles.
Its northern boundary is North avenue, and its southern boundary Thirty-ninth street. It is bounded on
the east and on the north by the Chicago city limits, and on the south by the township of Lyons. On the
west it is bounded by the townships of Proviso and Riverside.

There was no political organization whatever until 1857. The name, Cicero, was the suggestion of
Mr. Augustin Porter, who brought it with him from that land of classic names, York state. The name of
Proviso is also attributed to him, but is said to have been the suggestion of "Long John" Wentworth.
On June 23, 1857, an election was held in Cicero(on Lake street near Garfield Park, now the heart of Chicago),
for the purpose of organization. The town of Cicero was then six miles square. The number of votes
cast at that election was only fourteen. They were those of George Scoville (Oak Park), H. H. Palmer,
James W. Scoville (Oak Park), Reuben Whaples (Oak Park), John Beaver (Oak .Park), William H. Scoville
(Oak Park), Joel G. Phillips, B. F. Livingstone (Oak Park), Joseph Kettlestrings (Oak Park), Peter Craw-
ford, H. P. Flower (Oak Park), Ives Scoville (Oak Park), H. G. Kurd (Oak Park), and Gilbert Crawford.

24

Oak Park seems to have had sufficient votes to control the election, few as they were. William A. Scoville
was chosen supervisor; James H. Scoville, assessor; Reuben Whaples, clerk; George Scoville and Joseph
Kettlestring-s, commissioners of highways; George Scoville, justice of the peace; Joseph Kettlestrings,
overseer of the poor.

In the various town boards up to 1867 Oak Park was always well represented, and matters generally
went in a Scoville kind of way. Milton C. Niles was supervisor from i860 to 1864, H. W. Austin in 1865 and
George E. Timme in 1866. That the supervisorship belonged to Oak Park was then pretty clear, and that
was the big office in those days. J. W. Scoville was assessor in 1858, and Patrick Shehan in 1859. Joseph
Kettlestrings and George Scoville were commissioners of highways in 1858, James W. Scoville was a com-
missioner in 1861, and again in 1864, and Joseph Kettlestrings in 1866.

By an act of the legislature of 1867, Cicero was created a special corporation, with the corporate pow-
ers in a board of five trustees, of which the supervisor, collector and assessor then in office, were three.
George E. Timme, of Oak Park, was the supervisor, and continued so till November, 1868. By this time
the east end began to gain the advantage. John McCaffery, of Brighton (now deceased), was elected a
commissioner of highways in 1865. On the new board, under the new charter, in 1867, he, with John Craw-
ford, was elected a trustee to complete the board. Only one Oak Park man was to be found on the board
after this for some time.

In March, 1869, another new charter for the town was provided by the legislature. The trustees
were increased from five to seven. It was in 1870 the town hall was built in Austin. The same legislature
took the two eastern miles of Cicero's territory and added them to Chicago, excepting the wedge south of
the canal, known as Brighton. These, it was said, were desired for the new parks for the city. H. W.
Austin was appointed trustee to take the place of Geo. E. Timme on July 3, 1869.

Under the new charter John McCaffery figured as supervisor in 1869 and 1870; C. E. Crafts, of Austin,
in 1873 and 1874; M. C. Niles, of Oak Park, in 1875; W. H. Wood, of Oak Park, in 1876; James J. McCarthy,
of Austin, in 1877 and 1878; John Lewis, of Oak Park, was supervisor in 1879 and 1880; and McCarthy, of
Austin, again in 1881, 1882 and 1883. A. O. Butler, of Oak Park, was elected assessor in 1873, and not
qualifying, O. W. Herrick was appointed in his stead. Joseph Donnersberger, of Brighton, was assessor

DIAGRAM OF SCOVILLE INSTITUTE.

in 1874 and 1875; and Taylor A. Snow in 1876. George Butters (of Ridgeland) served as assessor from
1878 to 1883, inclusive. A. O. Butler served as collector in 1871; and O. W. Herrick in 1874; H. C.
Hansen in 1877; Simpson Dunlop in 1881; and Alonzo W. Pebbles in 1883-4.

The Oak Parkers who served as trustees under the charter of 1869 from then to 1884, were as follows,
there being' during that period four trustees, with the three village officers: 1869-70, H. W. Austin,
Morris Gaugler; 1870-71, Morris Gaugler; 1871 to April, 1873, Morris Gaugler; 1873-74, A. O. Butler
(appointed November 10, 1873), George Eckert; 1874-75, A. O. Butler, George Eckert; J. W. Scoville (rice
Eckert, resigned December 14, 1874); 1875-76, J. W. Scoville; 1876-77, J. W. Scoville; 1877-78, no Oak Park
man was chosen; 1878-79, H. C. Hansen was elected and continued to be the trustee from Oak Park until
1883; for 1883-84 E. S. Conway was the trustee elected from Oak Park, and continued to be so (acting as
president) until his resignation, July 16, 1887.

The president of the board was elected from among and by the members, and there was no salary
attached to the office until 1889. That office was first made elective without any salary being provided.
A subsequent legislature made the president president of the town, instead of president of the board,
with such salary as the board thought proper to allow.

BUSINESS BEGINNINGS.

In this article the writer does not expect to include every one who did business here in the early
days of the town, but will be as full as circumstances will permit.

In 1853 the only place of business known to exist was Skinner's Oak Ridge hotel. It was on Lake
street, east of Harlem avenue, where the first temporary tavern was started in 1835. In the early days
a tavern was of prime necessity- It was the first beginning of everything. There were no railroads, no
good wagon roads, and few houses, and teamsters, farmers and travelers needed shelter and food and
"something to drink." A railroad roundhouse was erected two blocks west of the town line, in the rail-
road yard, which was maintained until 1865, one year after the Chicago & Galena Union railroad was
purchased by the Chicago & North-Western line, which had also absorbed the Air Line. It was afterward

LATE PRAIRIE CLUB HOUSK. NOW KKXILWORTH HALL.

changed into a railroad paint shop of the North-Western Company, and maintained there until 1873, when
it was removed to the yards of the new shops at Fortieth street.

In 1856 the embryo town could not muster more than half a dozen houses, all situated on Lake street.
One authority says: "Among- them were Mr. Morey's, Mr. Whaples', the old tavern, a store and the old
school house, now Temperance hall"; and the latter was erected only the year before, the first teacher
being Mr. A. D. Thomas. George Scoville, our first attorney, built a barn in 1855 and lived in it until he
had his house ready the following year. The store referred to, we suppose, was that started by a Mr.
Barber, who did business here until he sold out to Mrs. Steiner. John Beaver built the stores at 201-203
Lake street, now belonging to Albert Schneider. "Moley's" tenement house was built by a Mr. John
Leison, who died there many years ago, it is said by suicide. The addition to Mr. Steiner's store, made
in later years, was built by Mr. J. H. Hillmer, who was our first builder. A shoe store was started by
Christian Senf in 1863, in what is now 107 Lake street. A shoe shop was also carried on by Mr. Moley
between the years 1855 and 1860, and his house (just now removed to make way for a modern building) is
one of the very oldest in the town. The first blacksmith is not remembered, but Carl Haberland, who died
a few years ago, had a shop on the south side of Lake street, near the tavern, before 1870. "Old Man
Litke " had a grocery store at an early date in what is known as Kuhn's block, 204 Lake street. Litke
was bought out by a man named Bloom, who started a saloon in 1857. Ludwig Maanse bought out Bloom,
greatly enlarged and improved the premises, and started the " Farmer's Home " hotel in 1864. In 1865
Maanse was accidentally killed while hunting. A year later, Mr. John Kuhn married the Widow Maanse,
and conducted the hotel until the close of its career in 1872, on account of the new temperance act intro-
duced in the legislature, by Mr. H. W. Austin (then a resident here), which became a law. A man, named
Tollman, carried on the Oak Ridge hotel until it was burned down in 1867. Albert Schneider reached
here in 1859 and engaged in shoemaking with Mohle. He opened a shop of his own at 202 Lake street in
1860, and is now a man of considerable property. O. W. Herrick made his advent in December, 1859, and
engaged in teaching the public school. E. W. Hoard came in 1864. In October, 1863, Christian Schlund
opened a meat market on the north side of Lake street, and in 1865 was joined by his brother Joseph, who
had also entered the meat field. They had both been previously in business at the other side of the town

BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF GERMAN OLD PEOPLE'S HOME Madison Street, One Mile Southwest In.m Oak Park.

line. The first drug- store and doctor's office was opened after the war, in 1866, by Dr. Orin Peak, in a
house which occupied the site of the M. E. church. That house he sold to Mr. Austin and built another
to where Armbrust's greenhouse is now, and the doctor did business there until he built the larg-e brick
store at 206 Lake street in 1871. The house that he built on the north side of Lake street was removed,
and is now Philip Schneider's boot and shoe store at 118 Lake street. Henry Soffel, now of Maywood, did
business at 101 Lake street from 1869 to 1876, and became the owner of the property. In 1866 John H.
Furbeck, who had carried on a grocery business both in the old and new town, built a house at 209 Lake
street, which was subsequently changed to a store, and in 1870 was sold to Mr. O. W. Herrick. In 1865
Michael Carter commenced market gardening- and farming- at the corner of Chicago avenue and North
East avenue. In 1869 A. W. Pebbles, who had previously been employed in the railroad paint shop, opened
a shop of his own on the north side of Lake street, and had William Patterson as a partner for two years,
afterward changing, when his lately deceased brother, S. E. Pebbles, was substituted. Mr. Pebbles is
the only man continuously in business here since 1869. He occupied his present store at 144 Lake street
in 1883. Nathan T. Holley (deceased) came in 1870, and transacted business in real estate. It is said he
cleared $22,000 on his first speculation. Carl Schroeder came first in 1856, working at various occupa-
tions, but did not engage in the coal business till 1872. A man named James Broddle started a wood and
coal business in 1868 and continued for several years, until he went to Kansas. Frank Ellis came in 1871.

THE BOOM YEAR— HOME MAKERS.

The year 1871 was the boom year for Oak Park, and matters assumed a settled shape. Up to that
year the village was called Oak Ridge, but the school house alone answered to that name. The postoffice
was removed and the name changed from Noyesville to Oak Park. The name of the railroad station was
changed from Harlem to Oak Park. The only institution that remained unchanged in name was
" Harlem " lodge, A. F. & A. M. That year the temperance act affecting hotels and saloons was passed,
and the same year occurred the great Chicago fire. Everything requisite was named Oak Park, and every
obstruction had been removed. There were many good men here besides the business men already

32

E f K E.W

ENGINE HOUSE AND WLICK STATION 213 Marion Str

RST SCHOOL HOUSE, CHURCH AND MEET-
ING PLACE IN OAK PARK Lake Street, near

Northwest corner of Forest Avenue.

mentioned. James W. Scoville and his cousin George, had been active workers for the advancement of
the town from its earliest date; so had H. W. Austin, who built his house here in 1859, and although he
had an adjoining town named after himself, he always took a lively interest in this. Samuel Dunlop, father
of Dunlop Bros., bankers, had been living here since 1862; Warren F. Furbeck had been here since 1866;
E. O. Gale had been living here since 1863, and had built a very fine private residence; Joseph Harvey, a
prominent railroad man, made this his home in 1869; O. W. Herrick, a gentleman of energy, had been here
since 1859; Mr. N. T. Holley came in 1870; Fred J. Knott was here in 1867; Henry Lombard made this
his place of residence in 1871; Milton C. Niles had been a prominent man in our affairs since 1858, and had
engaged in a number of advantageous enterprises. Chas.A. Welch made his home here in 1870; Fred
C. Wolcott, a prominent commission merchant, had been here since 1879; A. O. Butler, Maurice Gaugler,
John Carne, H.C. Hansen, Andrew Vogt, Geo. Eckert, E. A. Blackmer, J. W. Middleton, Chas. Schroeder,
John Kunz, the Pebbles brothers, Dr. Grey, G. A. Ingalls, Wright Elsom, N. Armbrust, M. Crandall,
Welton Marks, W. H. Wood, A. J. Cheney and Simpson Dunlop were all here before 1871, so that the town
had a nucleus of excellent men and material to make its future not only promising but assured. The
year 1872 witnessed a large influx of people seeking homes here on account of the great Chicago fire of
the previous year, and the desire that had sprung up for suburban residences.

On the 28th day of April, 1871, Mr. O. W. Herrick was appointed the first postmaster, and the office
was located at Mr. Herrick's place of business, which is now 209 Lake street. He served until the sum-
mer of 1873, when he was succeeded by John Merton, who continued to act as postmaster until July, 1875,
when he was succeeded by E. W. Phelps,who had also engaged in mercantile business.

RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS.

The first stated preaching at Oak Ridge was in 1856, by James Viall, a methodist local preacher, and
was in the school house, which was built the year before. About the same time George Scoville started a
Sunday school. In 1860 the Union Ecclesiastical Society was organized, with which church members
of several denominations affiliated. Its meeting place was the old frame school house. Among the

34

original "members were George Scoville and wife, James W. Scoville and wife, O. W. Herrick and wife,
H. W. Austin and wife, M. C. Niles, E. O. Gale, Samuel Dunlop, J. W. Kettlestrings and Mary C. Scoville.
In 1863 this society was organized into a Union church. It was unsectarian in character, but its creed was
strictly evangelical and its polity was Congregational. There were only thirteen members at the start,
and the name of "Oak Ridge Church of Harlem" was given to it. The Oak Ridge Ecclesiastical Society
co-operated with this organization. The Rev. Mr. Dickinson, in 1865, became the pastor, and continued as
such for four years. The membership increased five-fold during his ministry. In May, 1870, Rev. Mr.
Huntington was called to the pulpit at a salary of $2,000 per annum. In March, 1871, the name was
changed to the First Congregational church of Oak Park, when it became distinctly denominational. Mr.
Huntington was followed in the pastorate by Rev. Edward D. Eaton, who labored with the church till
1886. He in turn was succeeded by Rev. H. N. Hoyt, D.D., who, after serving several years, accepted a
call to Sacramento, Cal. Rev. Palmer S. Hulbert was the next pastor, preaching his first sermon January
6, 1895. He was a powerful preacher, but created some antagonism by the force of his utterances. He
died July 23, 1897, after tendering his resignation. The pulpit continues vacant at this writing, July 12,
1898. The church is the strongest in Oak Park, there being 728 members enrolled. It has a large Sunday
school. The Christian Endeavor Society has about 100 members. In 1893 a mission was organized on
Forest avenue, which soon became a regularly organized church. It had a mission in Harlem for many
years, but that is now conducted by the Methodist church of Oak Park.

* * *

A Presbyterian church, under the pastorate of Rev. Yates Hickey, was organized with seven members
in the fall of 1861, and continued until May, 1862, when the congregation joined the Union church, and
there was no separate Presbyterian church organization again until 1883. The First Presbyterian Society
of Oak Park was organized in 1883, at the house of W. C. Gray, editor of the Interior, with thirty-one
members. Among those were R. S. Critchell, H. M. Robinson, Thos. H. Doane, W. C. Gray, J. W. John-
ston and Dr. Orin Peak. The first service was held in Hoard's hall, conducted by Rev. E. R. Davis, of
Chicago, in September of that year. The congregation was ministered unto by Rev. Drs. D. C. Marquis
and Herrick Johnson, until Dr. John Robinson became stated supply; but there was no settled pastor until

36

HIGH SCHom- nriLIH.Ni; Corner of Lake Street and East A

the arrival of Rev. Arthur J. B. Brown from Ripon, Wis., in 1884. He was succeeded in 1888 by the
present pastor, Rev. C. S. Hoyt, from Westminster church, Chicago. In the ten and a half years of Mr.
Hoyt's administration the church has increased in usefulness and power, and the present church edifice,
which was erected in 1886 on a leased lot, has become too small, and it is proposed to soon build a new one.
The church membership in 1898 numbers about 300. Among the active members of the church are
C. B. Albro, W. G. Halket, James McGregor, N. G. Moore, A. H. Newman, C. R. Blanchard, W. J. Cooke,
H. H. Morgan, John Pullen, Orin Peak, W. T. Templeton. There is a nourishing Sunday school, a
Christian Endeavor Society, a Junior Society, and a strong and active Woman's Society.

There was no separate Methodist church until 1870, although Methodism was the first denominational
doctrine preached in Oak Park, the first settlers being Methodists; but until then they held membership
in the Union church. For three years — from 1870 to 1873 — members of this religious body residing in
Oak Park, Austin and River Forest united in one congregation, with Rev. S. N. Griffith as pastor. The
charter members were: A. J. Bell, Elizabeth Bell, German Lasher, Matilda A. Lasher, Hannah French,
Philander Smith, Adeline M. Smith, Warren Wilkie, Hannah Dunlop, W. E. Coman, Mrs. S. D. L. Coman,
William E. Blackstone, Sarah L. Blackstone, Mary A. Marks, Mary V. Hale, John Powell, Joseph Kettle-
strings, Betty Kettlestrings and others.

In May, 1869, Philander Smith came to Oak Park and built a residence. With his presence here
Methodism had a revival. In November, 1872, he donated a lot to the church, and $5,000 was subscribed
toward a church edifice. Mr. Smith, besides deeding the lot, afterward gave $5,000 toward the building
fund, and Joseph Kettlestrings gave $6,000. In the twenty-seven years of its existence the church has
been served by fourteen pastors, as follows: P. J. Marsh, T. R. Strobridge, W. D. Atchison, A. J. Scott, F.
P. Cleveland, R. S. Cantine, S. H. Adams, R. H. Pooley, C. E. Mandeville, S. M. Davis, R. W. Bland, H. D.
Kimball, R. H. Pooley. The present pastor, Rev. Dr. Burns, assumed the pastorate in the month of
October of last year, and he has come with a splendid record. The present church edifice was a long time
building, and was not finished till 1888. One of the most valuable contributions made to it was a pipe
organ, the gift of Mrs. Adeline M. Smith, in 1890, and valued at $3,000. The church is very prosperous

".££ &«?7

ISw^

wiS *oRlJ

•ftlF

I

CENTRAL SCHOOL IHIILIHNr, AND CROUNDS r,,mndeil by Lake Street, Park Place and North Houlevard.

and has about 500 members. It has organized and supported the Onward mission, corner of Franklin and
Marengo streets, Harlem, of which Ernst A. Heilman is the pastor. The Epworthand Junior Leagues are
strong and doing good work. The Sunday school is large, with a corps of able teachers. The church has
three local preachers and two class leaders. Other societies are Woman's Foreign Missionary Society,
Woman's Home Missionary Society, Sunday School Missionary Society, Ladies' Aid Society, and Willing
Workers' Band. There are nine trustees and thirteen stewards.

* * #

The German Evangelical Association was organized in 1864, with a membership of eight families, by
Rev. Mr. Wingert, who was its first pastor. It, too, worshiped in the old school house until 1867, when a
small frame church was erected at a cost of about $1,000, which has been since superseded by a much more
costly and commodious edifice, built in 1896. The original membership consisted of Benjamin Ebert,
Leonard Neff, John Esch, Charles Schroeder, Christian Cordt, C. Schmidt, Frederick Troester and a Mr.
Radt. There have been a number of pastors. The church is now in a flourishing condition under the
charge of Rev. M. Hoehn. It is situated at 138 Ontario street and has a seating capacity of 300.

* * *

Those who believed in the more liberal doctrines of Universalism and Unitarianism came together on
the first day of February, 1871, and effected an independent church organization. Among them were E.
W. Hoard, Enoch Marks, Geo. E. Gerts, M. C. Niles, E. H. Graves, E. O. Gale, Abram Gale, W. H.
Emery, Joel Gurley, William B. Akers, A. H. Heald, M. B. Mills, Chas. A. Welch and Henry Lumbard.
A. H. Sweeter was then the pastor, and under his supervision the church on Wisconsin avenue was built.
Prior to that services were held in the old school house. R. F. Johannot, the present able and eloquent
pastor, was installed in May, 1892. The church is out of debt and thoroughly organized. It has a Sunday
school, a Ladies' Social Union, a Young People's Christian Union, King's Daughters, Juvenile Daughters,
King's Sons and Saturday Night Club.

The only Baptist in Oak Park or immediate vicinity for years, was Mrs. Elizabeth Porter Furbeck.
Her father, Judge Porter, was not a Baptist, but he mortgaged his property to help build the First Baptist

40

SOUTH SCHOOLS Washington IJouh-vard, betv

church in Austin, before any attempt was made to organize a church in Oak Park, and Mrs. Furbeck
therefore belonged to the Austin church at the time the church was organized in Oak Park. Before the
Austin church was started she attended devine service in Chicago. Mrs. Furbeck, however, has been a
member of the Oak Park church since it was organized. On the 9th day of May, 1873, the following per-
sons gathered at the home of J. W. Middleton, Maple avenue, and organized the First Baptist church of
Oak Park: Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Andrews, Mr. and Mrs. R. E. Bartlett, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Middleton, Mr.
and Mrs. F. T. June, Mr. and Mrs. Abram Shaffer, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Furbeck, Mrs. Capt. Ira Owen
and F. J. Ellis. For a time they rented the Central school, but the old school building becoming vacant,
they rented that until the building of their own church, corner of Pleasant street and Wisconsin avenue.
The first minister was Henry C. Mabie, D.D., from Rockford. He was installed August 1, 1873. The
present pastor is Rev. J. W. Conley, who is serving his second term. He first came in 1890, laboring
\vith great success for three years, following Rev. R. N. Van Doran. Rev. F. H. Rowley succeeded Mr.
Conley, October 16, 1892. Then there was a vacancy for some months, when Mr. Conley came back from
St. Paul, Minn., at the urgent solicitation of the congregation, taking charge March 1, 1898. He is a hard
worker, a brilliant preacher, and is generally beloved for his many amiable qualities. There are several
societies affiliated with the church and the works of education and philanthropy progress. The church
has a thriving mission in Harlem.

* # *

Grace Protestant Episcopal church was organized in Oak Park in 1879, its members being mostly
seceders from Christ church, Harlem, but they had the guidance of Bishop McLaren. The membership
consisted of about sixty persons. Hoard's hall was used as the place of worship until a church was built
in 1883. The officiating rector was Rev. Dr. T. N. Morrison. The committee that organized the church
were: A. S. Pack, George Sharp, R. S. Worthington, T. S. Rattle. The present rector is Rev. C. P.
Anderson, who has filled that position with great acceptance since July, 1891. The Sunday school is
flourishing under the superintendence of Mr. A. W. Giles. Among the organizations within the church
are the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, the Parochial Guild and the Woman's Auxiliary. All are flourishing.
A new church edifice is to be built, so soon as desirable plans are decided upon.

flLLlAM JiKYK SCHOOL, RIDGKLAND Corner Cuylcr Avenue and Cedar Street.

The Second Congregational church was started in 1888. It is located at the north-east corner of Lake
street and Fair Oaks avenue, about half a mile east of the First church. It was dedicated in April, 1889.
The cost of its construction was over $15,000. Its first pastor was Rev. W. A. Bartlett, who commenced
his ministrations in the fall of 1889, and continued the same for about six and one-half years, resigning in
May, 1896, and going from here to Lowell, Mass. The great feature of Mr. Bartlett 's services was his
instruction in singing, and his urgency of its use in the church services. Mr. Bartlett was succeeded in
February, 1897, by Rev. Sidney Strong, who is now the pastor. The Sunday school is too large for the
church, and the increase is so great that the trustees are now planning for an enlargement.

The church in which the Roman Catholics of Oak Park worship, is situated in River Forest, half a
mile west of the town line, at the northwest corner of Lake street and Lathrop avenue. It is the second
church edifice erected on the same site. It is used by the Catholics of Oak Park, River Forest, Harlem
and Maywood. The date of the formation of the congregation is 1862. The first pastor was Rev. Father
Burke from St. Columbkille's church in Chicago, who served it for several years; Father Anthonasius
served it for four years, "Father Tom "or Morrissini served it for four years, and it was served for some
years by the priest at Forty-Second street church. Rev. Father Luke Waldron was the priest who
built the new church, and after having served it for six years, was taken sick and died of paralysis. He
was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. Richard Dunne in 1893. Father Dunne has an assistant in
Rev. Father Hayes, who has come lately. There is a commodious parsonage adjoining the church edifice.

* * *

There is a German Baptist church (organized in 1885) whose edifice is situated corner of Harlem
avenue and Dixon street, and of which Rev. J. Fellman is pastor.

There is a German Evangelical Lutheran St. Paul's church, situated on Dixon street, Harlem, of
which Rev. Gustav Greenland is the pastor. It was organized in 1880, and the church was erected in 1881.

St. John's German Lutheran church of Harlem, is used by the Lutherans of Oak Park. Of this
church Rev. F. M. Grosse is pastor. A view of the handsome church edifice is presented herewith.

44

k

MICH SCHOOL C.K A I>r ATI \C CLASS. IS'is.

CHURCH BUILDING.

Nearly all the church societies at the beginning made use of the old school house; first as a Union
church and afterward as separate organizations.

The first church edifice erected in Oak Park was that of the German Evangelical Association in 1867.
It was a modest frame structure, in keeping with the times, and costing only about $1,000. In 1896 this
was moved back and converted into a parsonage, while a larger structure, capable of seating 200 to 300
persons, was erected in its stead.

Christ Protestant Episcopal church, erected in old Harlem in 1872, was the next. It is still in exist-
ence, and partly in use. It is a frame structure, with stone foundation, situated on the northwest corner
of Lake and John streets, and is the private property of Mr. J. H. S. Quick.

Unity church was the next. It is Universalist and Unitarian combined. On March 6, 1871, Messrs.
E. W. Hoard, Enoch Marks, George E. Gerts, M. C. Niles, E. H. Graves and E. O. Gale were chosen as a
building committee for the erection of the church. On April 17 they accepted proposals for doing the
stone work, carpenter work and painting, at an aggregate cost of $7,900. The first meeting was held in
the basement of the church March 25, 1872. The total cost of the new edifice was shown to be $13,860. It
is a two-story frame structure, with stone basement and a steeple. It was all overhauled, painted and
repaired in 1897.

The Oak Ridge Ecclesiastical Society (whose membership was mostly Congregational), on July 25,
1863, elected three trustees, consisting of M. C. Niles, H. W. Austin and James W. Scoville, with O. W.
Herrick as secretary and treasurer. They purchased and fitted up as a place of public worship the first
school house, which had been superseded by a new brick school building. After the change in the organi-
zation of the church in 1871, the old building was sold and the proceeds devoted to the payment of debts.
The building of a new Congregational church edifice was entered upon, and Mr. James W. Scoville, always
foremost in such matters, contributed a lot on which to build. Subscriptions to the amount of $20,000

46

3IIS1
^tmlm

HH

wiHi
i

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH AND SCOVILLK INSTITUTE Lake Street, between Kcni!

were soon taken, and the corner stone was laid August 28, 1873. It was dedicated November 1, 1874. The
total expense of lot, building and furniture was $47,100. It is a substantial stone structure, two stories
high, with a spire 190 feet high. The seating capacity was then 550. In the summer of 1881 Mr.
James W. Scoville contributed a pipe organ, the value of which was about $4,000. During 1891 the church
was greatly enlarged and improved at a cost of $40,000. The interior is capacious and beautiful. On
account of its size it is frequently used for secular assemblages, the trustees being very liberal in this

respect.

* # *

At a trustees' meeting of the M. E. Church, held January 31, 1873, it was determined to build a church,
and the brick veneered style was adopted. The ground was staked off May 5, and the corner stone
laid September 2, 1873. The building committee consisted of Philander Smith, F. A. Arnold and W. E.
Blackstone. Mr. Blackstone drafted the plans and Mr. Smith furnished the money to carry on the work.
The basement was occupied for the first time on Christmas eve, 1873, the rooms being completed January
3, 1874. The dedication took place the following Sunday, on which occasion $7,850 was raised. The total
cost was about $24,000. The audience rooffl-wtrsnot finished till 1878. It was not till 1888 that the church
building came to be anything like its present size. It was found to be entirely too small, and was remod-
eled and enlarged at an expense of $19,000. This amount was all raised on dedication day and the church
is out of debt. The church property, including the parsonage on Forest avenue, is valued at $50,000.
The building is one of the handsomest ecclesiastical edifices in Cook county, and has a beautiful interior as
well as a graceful exterior.

Grace Episcopal church was erected in 1882, the corner stone having been laid in June of that year.
It is situated at the corner of Forest avenue and Elizabeth street, and is of brick, one story high. It is
now too small for the congregation, which is making preparations for the erection of a grand new struc-
ture on Lake street, opposite the Presbyterian church, for which the ground is purchased and the plans
in preparation. The cost of the ground is $11,137. The building will cost about $50,000.

48

The Presbyterian church was erected on a leased lot in 1886. Knfe a broad wooden structure with-
out a steeple, but with some architectural pretensions. Its location is the south side of Lake street, be-
tween the Methodist and Congregational churches. It will be soon either enlarged or replaced.

Between five and six years ago the small Congregational church on Forest avenue was built. It was at
first simply a mission. ^ .,. ^

The Lutherans worship in St. John's church, Harlem, of which Rev. F. M. Grosse has been pastor
from its organization in 1872.

The Catholics worship in St. Luke's church, River Forest, of which Rev. Richard Dunne is pastor.
The first church edifice was erected in 1862, and the second in 1880.

The Second Congregational church (Ridgeland) was erected in 1888. It is a handsome edifice, of
stone, with a seating capacity for 300 persons.

OAK PARK SCHOOLS.

The present school system, of which the residents of Oak Park and Ridgeland are so proud, and for
which we receive the highest praise through the county and state, began life in a very humble manner
some forty-three years ago. If we trace the educational interests of the earlier inhabitants of the town
back for more than forty years we find that the first rudiments of learning were taught in the little white,
one-story building now standing back on Lake street, adjoining the residence of Mr. H. W. Austin on the
east, and which has served the people of Oak Park in so many capacities and in such good stead for so
many years. Even this, in its original condition, was more diminutive in its proportions than now. Of
this building we present a view in this work. It was erected in 1855. Prof. W. H. Hatch, superintendent
of education, has a pretty painting of it adorning the walls of his office in the north wing of the Central
school. It shows the vast contrast between the educational necessities of the district away back in the

50

INTERIOR VIK\V OK M KTIIOIIIST KI'ISl'OP A I. I HIKl'll.

fifties and the present time. What happened in 1856 \ve do not know, but in the spring' of 1857 a district
school, with B. F. Living-ston, Jos. Kettlestrings and J. W. Scoville as directors, was opened. Miss Sarah
Dewey was engaged to teach the pupils, then only twenty-nine in number. In June of the same year Mr.
John Fraser was engaged as principal, but was dismissed by the directors in August, "for lack of govern-
ment and incapacity for teaching." At a meeting of the board of directors, Mr. John M. Holmes, a
graduate of Yale college, of the class of '57, was engaged as principal, at a salary of $1,000, afterward raised
to $1,200, assuming his new duties the first Monday in September. He served in this capacity till April,

1858, leaving to enter the Theological Seminary at Andover, Mass. In the records of the school he is
referred to as "an excellent teacher, a profound scholar, a warm hearted friend, and was universally
beloved by the community in which he resided."

December 9, 1857, the directors met in the school house, and having previously engaged the services
of the veteran music instructor, the late Mr. Nathan Dye, listened to his first lesson in music to the new
school. Mr. Dye had been engaged to give instruction in music for a term of twelve weeks, devoting one
day each week, and receiving as compensation for his services $7 a day and expenses! At this lesson there
were thirty-eight scholars present. The fall term for the first school year closed December 22, the
closing exercises being participated in by forty pupils, and witnessed by twelve visitors.

January 23, 1858, a school meeting was held, at which the directors were authorized to borrow such
sums of money as they should think proper for school purposes, not to exceed the sum of S700. The
following April an addition was built to the school house, the new department being used as the primary
department. In June a meeting was called to consider the advisability of buying property and building a
new school house. No active measures were taken until the following March, when the lot on which the
Central school now stands was purchased of B. F. Livingston for $1,100. The contract was given out for
the new school building, and the work was rapidly pushed, it being ready for occupancy in September,

1859. In 1859 Alexander Hall was the teacher.

In January, 1860, Mr. O. W. Herrick's services were secured to take charge of the new school, and as
principal served until April, 1864. Mr. Herrick's able management of the educational interests of the
populace was succeeded by Mr. Chas. E. Fay, who served until June, 1868, when Mr. Warren Wilkie was

RST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AND MAXSK ?4.s Lake Street.

hired by the directors for the term of one year at a salary of $1,800. Mr. Wilkie's services being- appre-
ciated, he was retained by the board of directors from year to year, and in 1873 his salary was raised to
$2,000. The capacity of the school building being inadequate to the growing demands, a vote was taken
and preparations begun to enlarge. In the summer of 1874 the north end of the Central school was built,
and when school opened for the fall term in the enlarged building, Mr. Durkee presided over the increased
number as principal and continued for two years.

In 1876, at the earnest demand of the residents, the school board decided to open a school in the eastern
section of the district known as Ridgeland. For that purpose a lease was executed with F. Dorm for the
room in rear of his store, corner Lake street and Ridgeland avenue, to be used as the Ridgeland primary
school, and Mrs. J. E. Lyon was employed as teacher.

During the summer of 1876 the services of Prof. B. L. Dodge were secured as principal, to assume
his duties the followipg school year. About this time, too, Mr. John Powell was engaged as janitor, that
position being held by him ever since, some twenty-two years, without a complaint being heard.

During Prof. Dodge's seventeen years in charge many changes were made, as the growing population
needed constantly enlarged educational facilities. In 1880 another addition to the Central school was built.
The cost of this building is set down at $35,000. In 1879 more school room was required to meet the
growing demands at Ridgeland. A lot was bought there and a new brick school house built. In 1884 in-
creased room was required in Oak Park proper, and an addition was built on the south end of the Central
school. Later on, as the population increased on the extreme north and south sides, new schools were
built in each of those rapidly growing districts. On the south side there is a three-story building and two
cottages, and on the north side the school consists of two brick cottages, which are designated in the
diagram as the Chicago Avenue schools. During Prof. Dodge's services of seventeen years as principal,
six new school houses were built within an area of six square miles.

To fill the vacancy made by Prof. Dodge's resignation in 1892, the services of Prof. W. H. Hatch were
secured, and he has discharged the duties of his office ever since in a most satisfactory manner. Since Mr.
Hatch entered on his duties two new buildings have been added to the number, the last one to be built
being in South Ridgeland (on Jackson boulevard), which was opened Monday, January 7, 1895. It consists

54

GRACE El'lSi'ol'AI. I'lU'RCH 4u(, Forest Avon

of four rooms, and cost $11,500. The Beye school supplanted the Ridgeland school in 1896, and cost $26,-
448.60. The south schools are designated in the diagram as Washing-ton Boulevard schools; they are three
in number, were built in 1893, and cost $45,000.

The Hig-h School is the especial glory of Oak Park, in its architecture, its teachers and its attendance.
It was built in 1890, and cost $60,000. It was planned throughout by the then school superintendent,
Prof. B. L. Dodge, now superintendent of the Oak Park water works. In the year 1888, Jas. W. Scoville
established three prizes, one of $20, one of $10, and one of $5, to be given annually to the three scholars
who excelled in declamation, and A. C. Terry, in 1883, established two prizes of $20 and $10, respectively,
to be given annually to the two scholars who excel in English composition. The school has a library of
reference; there is an excellent apparatus and a gymnasium attached. The attendance during the term
of 1897-98 was 300.

Oak Park has now, all told, nine school buildings, with a total of fifty-three teachers, as capable as can
be found, and a school attendance of nearly two thousand. The total value of the school property in lands,
buildings, furniture, maps, apparatus, etc., is estimated at $302,400. The school census for 1898 gives a
total population of 8,740.

MORE LOCAL BUSINESS PEOPLE.

William Steiner put up the two-story frame building at the northeast corner of Lake street and
Harlem avenue, and started a general store in 1864. He had previously married Catherine Pattock, who
had before that been in business on the Harlem side. The addition to the store was made in 1872. The
adjoining building, erected by Mr. Steiner, and at one time occupied by Mr. Senne, was put up in 1882.
H. C. Hansen bought out Mr. Steiner, and carried on business in partnership with Mr. A. Westphal for a
while, but the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Hansen conducted the store alone until he gave it up
and went into the real estate business. He came here in 1873.

Daniel Flanders (now in Vermont) started the first Oak Ridge and Chicago wagon express in 1864,
with his barn in rear of the premises now occupied by W. S. Johnston & Sons' carriage shop. He had

56

UNITY CHURCH 221 Wisconsin A\

Albert Townsend as a partner for a while. Albert Townsend was the next man to enter the express
business between Oak Park and Chicago, and he is at it yet.

The first livery business in the town was done by a man named Manville, with his barn in rear of the
Farmers' Home hotel. O. T. Wall (afterward Wall & Brown") started a livery and express business in
1886 on rear of 205 Lake street, but was for a while on Harlem avenue, where Johnston's carriage and
blacksmith shop is now. Henry Soffel succeeded Dr. Mette in a saloon at 200 Lake street, paying $400 per
annum rent. He purchased the premises afterward from Tollman, paying- him $3,050 cash for fifty feet
front by 212 feet deep. Besides Mette and Soffel, A. Taylor and James McWilliams did business at that
locality later; also Christian Schlund. It is now occupied by the fine three-story brick building erected by
C. F. Duerr in 1896. C. F. Will began manufacturing cigars here in 1868 in a house on Chicago avenue.
He removed to Ridgeland in 1874, and opened his present shop at 203 Lake street in 1883. Peter Miller
started his meat market in 1871 at 122 Lake street, and was joined by his brother, Chris F. Miller, in 1873.
The brothers later increased the size of their store, and in addition erected an ice house. Peter Miller
retired from the business several years ago, but Chris F. still carries it on. A brother, August Miller,
started the first barber shop at 203 Lake street (now Will's cigar store), which was built for him by John
Kuhn. John Sheer, a watchmaker, occupied the same store for a while, and Dr. Lackie, for a doctor's
office, in the seventies, when he used only to make visits here. N. H. Whittlesy started grocery in Hoard's
block, 148 Lake street, in 1882, and has continued in the same place ever since. He was preceded in that
store by several others — Furbeck, Hoard and Hoitt.

Fred. A. Arnold settled here in 1872 and entered upon contracting and building.

William S. Johnston came in 1872 and entered upon carriage building and repairing, horseshoeing,
etc., at 121 Lake street, where he was joined by his brother, J. W. Johnston, who carries on a horseshoeing
business now at the same place. In 1886 W. S. Johnston built his present extensive premises on Harlem
avenue, which he occupies in partnership with his two sons.

August Einfeldt came to Oak Park in 1872 and engaged in the building trade. In 1888 he engaged in
the lumber business with Geo. L. Eastman. He is now dealing in builders' materials on Harlem avenue.
Edwin F. Robbins, harnessmaker, came here in September, 1872, and opened a shop where the Holley

(1KK.MAN EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION CHURCH 348 Ontario ST. LUKE'S R. C. CHURCH. RIVER FOREST Corner Lake Street and

building' is now, on the north side of Lake street. He filled the office of justice of the peace for a term in
the eig-hties. He is yet at the old stand. Dr.R. M. Lackey (deceased) commenced practicing- medicine
here in 1872. H. W. Kaltenbach came in 1872, starting in the tinning and hardware business at 117 Lake
street. Gair Bros, started in the tinning and hardware business at 118 Lake street, now Philip Schnei-
der's shoe store, in 1873. They built their former store at 136 Lake street in 1876, and their new brick
store at 215 Lake, in 1890. Hugh Gair is now the sole proprietor of the business. L. M. Lovett started
his drug and stationery store at the southeast corner of Lake and Marion streets in October, 1883.

James Brown (deceased), father of John Brown, harnessmaker, came in 1869, and carried on success-
fully a newspaper and stationery business on the north side of Lake street between the Holley and the
Mohley houses. He sold out to Arthur T. Scales in 1882. Prof. B. L. Dodge came to Oak Park in the
summer of 1876 and took charge of the Oak Park schools. He is now superintendent of the Cicero Water,
Gas and Electric Light Works. Dr. John W. Tope came to Oak Park to practice medicine in 1876.
Albert W. Giles, our late postmaster, came in 1876. A. Z. Churchill started his milk business
in 1878, at 410 Harlem avenue. George Nordenholt started the first successful bakery here in
1878, and is succeeded by Albert Burgess. Mr. Nordenholt is now in the ice business on Har-
lem avenue. H. H. Angell (decesased) came in 1878 and started in the coal business. He was
afterward joined by G. S. Townsend. Miss F. Gill started the first millinery store in Hoard's block
in 1877. Mrs. G. W. Brown opened her millinery business at 205 Lake street in 1878. John Brown, har-
nessmaker, who had been in partnership with Mr. Robbins, commenced business for himself at 134 Lake
street in 1880. Dr. Lewis commenced the practice of medicine in 1880. In 1882 Antoine Bedard came here
from River Forest, and, in company with Henry Willett, started a planing mill, which has resulted in the
Bedard & Morency Co., a large incorporated concern. H.M. Plummer in 1887 built and started a livery
and boarding stable at 126 Marion street, which has changed hands several times and has been since
enlarged. It is now conducted by W. P. Knapp, who came here in 1890. McFadden & Brinkerhoff started
the first sewing machine agency in 1885. Gale & Block! bought out Dr. Peak's drug store at 206 Lake
street in 1886, and continued there till they sold out to C. P. Miller in 1892. Miss E. Outhett (retired)
succeeded Mrs. Fay in the dry goods store in Hoard's block in 1882. Bryant Bros, started^ their lumber
yard in 1889. The Library Association was started in 1883.

60

August Westphal built his handsome two-story photograph gallery in 1886 and carried on the photo-
graphing business there himself for one year, when he disposed of it to O. B. Thayer.

A. Wenter entered into the furniture and undertaking business in 1887 in the big skating rink on Mar-
ion street. He is now at 209 Lake street. C. F. Kannenberg started in the boot and shoe business at 205
Lake street in 1888. He built his brick store at 214 Lake street in 1890. A. L. Gookins (now Gookins &
Wilsnach) commenced in the watch and jewelry business, with a window in Gale & Blocki's drug store,
205 Lake street in 1886. Dr. John D. Waller came in May, 1888.

OTHER BUSINESS PEOPLE HERE IN 1888.

The names of the following additional business people appear in the first published directory we have
— that of 1888: James Darling, sewer builder, Harlem avenue, near Holley court; W. C. Woodward, painter,
119 Lake street; W. O. Williams, meat market, 130 Lake street; S. M. Peterson, barber, 138 Lake street;
W. E. Coman, boots and shoes, postoffice building Marion street; Morris Czmock, hardware, 123 Lake
street; D. Purnell, hardware, 212 Lake street; S. Sinden, tile and tubular wells, 141 Wesley avenue; Jas.
McWilliams, news dealer, 102 Lake street; The Cicero Vindicator, Marion street; William Williams, plum-
ber, Dunlop's Bank building; Jos. A. Rueff, Jr., engraving and printing, 432 Grove avenue; O. B. Thayer,
photographic artist, 141 and 143 Lake street; Oak Park Reporter; Schueman & Rueff, Oak Park directory;
Oak Park Building and Loan Association; Scales & Goodman, periodicals and stationery; E. O. Vaile, pub-
lisher; American Spring Co., water works; Wesley A. Arnold, architect, 314 Boulevard; C. A. Baker, grocer,
204 Lake street; Baker's hall, 204 Lake street; Geo. Bigden, plumber, 111 Lake street; Bohlander Bros.,
grocers, 115 Lake street; A. G. Bond, M. D., 116 Marion street; Lawrence Brown, agent C. & N.-W. R. R.;
Miss Nellie Burgoyne, dressmaker, Dunlop's bank building; H. Burmeister, cisternmaker, 104 Lake street;
Peter Buskirk, welldriver, Madison street and Oak Park avenue; Mrs. F. J. Case, boarding house, 109 Wis-
consin avenue; Rev. Augusta J. Chapin, pastor Unity church; John Cordray, painter, 510 Marion street;
Edward Czmock, blacksmith, 121 Lake street; Rev. S. M. Davis, pastor M. E. church, 230 Forest avenue;
F. Dunnebecke, boots and shoes, 125 Lake street; Oscar Dunphy, painter and paper hanger, 131 Lake street;

62

:TRAN-<JK TO FOKKST IIOMK CEMETERY one and one-half miirs s,«

Chris Ebel, tailor, 126 Lake stf eetr MISsTEIizabeth Faulkner, teacher High school; H. W. Gilbert, paper
hang-er, 307 Ann street; Henry Goelitz, plumber. 111 Lake street; Chas. Haberland, blacksmith, 124 Lake
street; Dr. Anna C. Hardy, homoeopathic physician, 310 South Oak Park avenue; James Harper, mason, 101
Harlem avenue; Miss Ellen H. Heise, M.D., postomce building-; Jas. B. Herrick, M.D., 307 Oak Park avenue;
Hilmer & Kennedy, dry goods, 101 Lake street; Rev. H. N. Hoyt, pastor Congregational church, North
Oak Park avenue; Miss Alice Huling, teacher public schools, 127 Marion street; Henry Hulsmann, artist,
214 Prairie avenue; Robert S. Ingalls, Starbright stables, 321 Lake street; F. W. Jackson, superintendent
Oak Park water works, 357 Grove avenue; John Jager, policeman, 510 Marion street; J. R. Johns, tailor
and clothier, 201 Lake street; Miss Ida M. Jones, teacher public schools; J. K. Kent, publisher Reporter,
Dunlop's bank building; Kettlestrings & Elsom, electrical bell hangers; J. W. Kettlestrings, conductor
C. & R. I. R. R., 507 Oak Park avenue; H. Krogman, contractor, 212 Prairie avenue; Miss Lillian A. La Bee,
school teacher, 109 Wisconsin avenue; Miss M. J. Leonard, proprietress Hotel Leonard, 127 Lake street;
Miss Amelia G. Littell, teacher public schools, 294 Home avenue; Mrs. A. M. Libby, dressmaker, 123 Euclid
avenue; Arthur Loewy, assistant postmaster; L. M. Lovett, druggist, 200 Lake street; Chas. G. Lowry,
contractor, 503 Menominee street; A. C. Luetge, gardener, Forest and Chicago avenues; Mrs. H.
Lueliing, dressmaker, 239 Elizabeth street, Chas.C. Lussow, carpenter, Forest and North Chicago avenues;
Henry Lussow, mason, North Forest avenue; E. J. Masters, builder, 480 Grove avenue; McFadden & Ray,
electric bell hangers, 227 Marion street; Geo. Mead, paper hanger, 251 Clinton avenue; Wm. Meir, farmer,
Chicago and Scoville avenues; Jacob Merkel, ice dealer, 103 South Grove, Miss J. S. Moody, music teacher,
523 Oak Park avenue; Mrs. A. Munro, restaurant and boarding house, 212 Lake street; Oak Park Water,
Gas and Electric Light Co., Oak Park avenue and Boulevard; John Pagers, barber, 107 Lake street; Miss
E. L. Pebbles, assistant postmaster; Andrew Pederson, florist, Oak Park avenue; Peterson Bros., painters,
138 Lake street; F. V. Peterson, boarding house, corner Elizabeth street and Harlem avenue; S. M. Peter-
son, barber, 138 Lake street; Rev. G. B. Pratt, rector Grace Episcopal church; D. Purnell, general tin
works and hardware, 212 Lake street; John M. Retter, dentist, 502 Lake street; Miss Nellie Bur-
goyne, dressmaker, Dunlop's bank building; W. W. Rogers, milk dealer, 422 Ann street; W. Schmidt,
contractor, 408 Harlem avenue; A. H. Schneider, florist; Philip Schneider, boots and shoes, 118 Lake

64

IKST ASS'T. I. NOKDMA

street; Miss Lizzie Schoff, dressmaker, 223 Elizabeth street; A. Schultz, painter, 506 Harlem avenue;
Ferd. Schwedler, policeman, 231 Elizabeth street; Miss Jennie B. Shaw, dressmaker, 349 Boulevard; Ed.
Sheehan, oats and hay, Madison street; John Sheehan, farmer, Madison street; Miss Emma Shepard,
dressmaker, 328 Grove avenue; Miss A. Sierck, dressmaker, 136 Lake street; J. W. Smith, real estate and
loans, 426 Cedar street; Miss Carrie Starring-, teacher, 709 Walnut street; S. S. Start, coal dealer, 145
Boulevard; William Steiner, postmaster, 233 Marion street; Miss H. Swanson, dressmaker, 503 Menominee
street; Mrs. Temple, teacher, public schools; Miss Clara Timme, dressmaker, 117 Lake street; Miss E.
Tinker, dressmaker, 326 Ann street; O. W. Turner, justice of the peace, 315 Lake street; E. O. Vaile,
publisher, 435 Grove avenue; O. Vaillancourt, jeweler, 412 Harlem avenue; C. W. Van Keuren, builder,
412 Boulevard; W. J. Van Keuren, architect, 412 Boulevard; Andrew Vogt, insurance agent, 127 N. Boule-
vard; Miss Mary Walker, teacher Oak Park hig-h school; Miss Elizabeth Waters, teacher public schools;
G. R. Weed, grocer, 507 Menominee street; R. S. Welch, contractor, 227 Marion street; Geo. R. Whapcls,
sewer builder, 341 Boulevard; Mrs. F. B. White, dressmaker, 303 Ann street; N. A. Whittlesy, grocer, 148
Lake street; Wm. Wickie, builder, 332 Home avenue; Mrs. A. A. Wilder, dressmaker, 105 Lake street;
F. E. Will, leather, 106 Lake street; Mrs. F. E. Will, dry goods, 106 Lake street; W. O. Williams, meat
market, 132 Lake street; Elias W. Wood, M.D., 122 Marion street; Miss Hattie J. Wood, librarian, Oak
Park Library Association, Postomce building; Fred H. Wood, secretary and treasurer, American Spring
Co.; W. H. Worswick, carpenter, 418 Harlem avenue; W. H. Yorke, farmer, 468 Willis street; M.E. Young,
civil engineer, 142 Lake street; J. T. Barbeau, contractor, 141 South Harvey avenue; J. Bernard, carpenter,
Ridgeland avenue, near Lake street; Geo. Butters, real estate, corner Ridgeland avenue and Cedar street;
S. S. Carman, grocer, Ridgeland avenue and Lake street; E. A. Colburn, milk dealer, Ogden avenue, near
Chestnut street; Wright Elsom, farmer, Lombard avenue, near Lake street; John Heuermann, mechanical
engineer, Ridgeland avenue and Iowa street; Miss Georgella Lay, pianist, Taylor avenue, near Lake street;
John Crane, Jr., real estate.

OAK PARK POLICE FORCE.

THE HOME FINDERS.

So many persons of extensive business, important relations, professional distinction and considerable
wealth had made their homes here before the close of 1888, that to make a choice by mentioning" some and
not others would appear invidious, and to name them all would be like copying the directory; yet we must
be excused if we do make reference to a few of the home makers that had come here up to the time men-
tioned. They are O. D. Allen, who has filled so many public offices faithfully ; Jesse A. Baldwin, distinguished
attorney; Farlin Q. Ball, well known jurist; Frank Ballard, real estate dealer; William Beye (deceased)
after whom one of our public schools is named; W. E. Blackstone, philanthropist; C. E. Bolles, business
man and real estate owner; A. W. Bryant, lumber merchant; J. F. Cleveland, assistant land commissioner
C. & N.-W. R. R.; E. S. Conway, of W. W. Kimball Co., who has served the town in many ways; W. H.
Cribben, of Cribben & Sexton, manufacturers; Geo. Eckart, of C. P. Kellogg & Co., wholesale clothiers,
who has always taken a lively interest in Oak Park affairs; A. M. Freer, lawyer and capitalist; Geo. C.
Gerts, manufacturer ; W. C. Grey, editor of the Interior; S. J. Humphrey, D.D. ; W. H. Kerkhoff, presi-
dent Bullock Press Co.; John Lewis, lawyer and present town supervisor; Warren F. Furbeck, well known
street railroad man; E. W. Lyman, fire insurance agent, and at one time president of the town; J. W. Mid-
dleton, stationer and printer; Walter F. Mills, lecturer; N. G. Moore, lawyer of distinction; C. M. Morton,
evangelist; Ira H. Owen, steamship owner; S. W. Packard, attorney and prominent prohibitionist; Frank
W. Palmer, editor and late public printer at Washington; Edward Payson, of the Payson Manufacturing
Co.; Frank M. Pebbles, portrait artist; Roger Sampson, merchant; C. P. Thomas, architect; H. S. Towle,
of Offield & Towle, patent attorneys; R. S. Worthington, assistant secretary Board of Trade; C. L. Ames,
of Ames & Frost; F. J. C. Borwell, dry goods; J. G. Charlton, assistant general passenger agent Chicago
& Alton R. R.; Hiram Coombs, real estate; E. A. Cummings, real estate and transportation; R. D. Gates,
Gates Iron Works; E. A. Pitkin, of Pitkin & Brooks.

FREER'S RANCH GREENHOUSES Superior Street and Linden Avenue (now discontinued).

TOWN LEGISLATION.

Road making- was the first work of county legislation in the town of Cicero. Riverside Parkway, on
the south side, which had a length of four miles in this town, was macadamized and graveled in 1850. It
has a road bed of nearly fifty feet in width, with ditches on each side, and also side roads or walks. Ogden
avenue, which runs from Chicago to Lyons, through Cicero, was graded and graveled at a cost of about
$8,000 per mile. Twelfth street was graded and graveled to a length of two and a half miles. Madison
street was graded, macadamized and graveled to a length of four miles, and Lake street was improved to
Ridgeland. James W. Scoville and others improved the roadway through Ridgeland at their own expense,
and a toll road was maintained by them for a time between Austin and Oak Park.

The great want of the town in its early stages, next to roads, was drainage, and for this purpose the
sum of $50,000 was appropriated in the year 1868. Ditches were made on all the section lines. A second
assessment was made for ditches on half-section lines. In all, up to 1883, the sum of $150,000 had been
expended on ditches carrying the water to Mud lake, which is situated near the southeast extremity of the
town in the city. Some fifty miles of ditches were constructed. Sewers then were too expensive. These
ditches were twelve feet wide at the top, four feet deep, and two and a half feet wide at the bottom. The
section line sewers were enlarged from time to time until some of them looked like small canals. The
effect on the value of property was very great. In 1869 the highest price paid for land in section 22 was
$200 per acre; in a short time after the ditches were opened $3,000 per acre was refused for the same land.

The earliest official report of the Town of Cicero I have been able to lay hands on is for the year 1869.
It is a diminutive affair. It is signed bv the late John McCaffery as president of the board of trustees. The
Riverside Parkway on the south side was then the important matter before the board. It will sound
strange to find, in the superintendent's (John Crawford's) report, suggestions about the improvement of
Western avenue, which is now three and a half miles east of the Cicero border at Lake street. J. T.
Foster was at that time town engineer. There was included in the small pamphlet a report from Lyman
Bridges, contractor for a sewer at Austin. George Philbrick was town clerk. The total expenditure for
the whole town that year, including special assessments for ditches, was $78,364.19. H. W. Austin was
the only man from Oak Park on the board in 1869.

70

VIEW IN ELIZABETH COURT Ri-siclc-ncos of C. A. Purcell and Edward Payson.

That year the state legislature granted a new charter to the town of Cicero that increased the number
of trustees of the town from two to four.

In 1870 the town hall was built in Austin. A continuous wooden sidewalk on the south side of Lake
street to Oak Park from Chicago was finished. There was one policeman put under pay in the village.

In 1875 condemnation proceedings for opening Marion street from Lake street to Chicago avenue were
commenced. Butler, Herrick and Scoville were on the town board that year. The compensation paid
members was $3 a day for actual attendance on meetings of the board and committees.

In 1881 Oak Park had two policemen — Fred Haecker and J. Graham — at $50 per month. The interest
fund that year was $14,945, and the bonded indebtedness $116,000; annual appropriation, $28,000. J. J.
McCarthy was town treasurer. The Oak Park members of the town board were H. C. Hansen, Simpson
Dunlop and Geo. Butters.

In 1883 Conway, Pebbles and Butters represented Oak Park on the town board. The first Oak Park
item (about the new Lake street sewer) appeared in the Vindicator of July 22, 1883.

In August of this year Mr. Samuel Dunlop dropped dead in front of his residence. A serious accident
took place on the "dummy "line at the double curve, October 6; Mr. J. H. Hittorf and others, passen-
gers, were badly hurt. An entertainment was given by the Oak Park Literary Association. The first
editorial article in the Vindicator concerning Cicero appeared September 22. First report of trustees'
meeting appeared October 6.

In 1884 Conway, Pebbles and Butters were the Oak Park representatives elected to the town board.
The appropriations for the fiscal year of 1884-5 were $36,000. Timothy T. Kennedy was made captain of
police, with a salary of $83 per month. The Oak Park avenue pipe sewer was begun. Street lamps were
set up this year. The big skating rink on Marion street was built. Geo. A. Ingalls died of rheumatism
of the heart; he was president of the Cicero republican club. A movement in favor of street signs was
started. An addition of four rooms was made to the Central school building.

M. C. Niles was treasurer of the town in 1876. The total disbursements that year were $32,001.92,
while the appropriation was only $20,000. In 1877 the appropriation was $20,000. In 1878, $30,000; in 1879,
$27,600; in 1880, $22,000; in 1881, $28,000; in 1882, $38,000; in 1883, $36,000.

I :

Trustee Conway, returning from California, was presented with a diamond studded official star. The
"dummy"track was snowed under for six weeks of the winter. The Citizens' Union party was badly defeated
in the town election. There was a musical club and a historical club organized; also a new building and
loan association. H.W.Austin put a prohibition ticket in the field at the spring election. Dr. Peck opened
a registry of names of residents at his drug store, which was our first directory. J. H. Hittorf obtained
judgment for $4,500 on account of his "dummy" injuries, sustained more than a year previous. The stand
pipe for the water works was erected and water pipes laid in different streets by Mr. Scoville. The base-
ball club was organized this year, with Thos. H. Gale as president. There was a carnival held in the big
skating rink, that was largely attended, April 23. Attorney Crafts was dismissed from the office of town
attorney, and Mr.W. A. Sheridan, of Oak Park, was appointed in his stead. Haberland's house at 224 Lake
street was rented for town purposes, at $15 per month. It was designed principally for police purposes.
The National Union was organized here this year. Oak Park got an additional policeman in the present
lieutenant, making a force of three. Mr. Scoville's water reservoir, constructed in 1878, was enlarged this
year. The erection of the Scoville Institute was begun. William Steiner was appointed postmaster by
President Cleveland after a hot contest with H. C. Hansen. The Weekly Review was started this year,
but after a few months' existence was bought by the Vindicator. There was a big meeting held in favor of
fire protection. The use of street signs was begun. The Chicago Telephone Co. secured an ordinance for
the erection of poles and for carrying on its business. The German Old People's Home was begun. The
Scoville Institute was incorporated with fifteen directors. Mr. Scoville donated $75,000 for building and
$25,000 for maintenance. The Vindicator was made the official paper of the town of Cicero. Gen. Grant
Council, Royal Arcanum, was instituted in July. George Hull, father of Mr. Delos Hull, died on August 2
at the advanced age of ninety-nine years. Oak Park, having over 450 voters, was granted a second polling
place. Maple avenue sewer was completed August 15. The "Jolly Five" pleasure club made their
appearance. The Oak Park Silver Cornet Band was organized with fourteen members. The public school
opened with a corps of seventeen teachers. The water works were finished and two miles of pipe laid.
The streets were sprinkled for the first time. The skating rink was opened October 3, with the new town
band furnishing the music. The purchase of a hose cart and 500 feet of hose for Oak Park was recom-

mended. The " Peculiar " club and the " Curious " club were both new social organizations. The Library
Association gave a winter course of lectures in Hoard's hall, with Rev. P. S. Henson giving the first lecture.
The " dummy " road was sold by the master in chancery for $46,000 to Frederick Belz, who bought it fora
third party. The town board entered into contract with J. W.Scoville for a water supply for the extinguish-
ment of fires. The library was removed from over Hansen's store to over the new postoffice. A social
club like the Oaks of Austin, was talked of. A new suburban railroad, to be known as the Chicago,
Harlem & Batavialine, was incorporated.

SOME LATER EVENTS.

The first directory of the village was issued by Gale & Blocki, druggists, in the spring of 1886.

The Reporter newspaper was started May 19, 1887, by Mr. J. E. Kent. It led a precarious existence until
it was purchased by Mr. Isaac Herr, September 28, 1888. The name of Railroad avenue was changed to
Boulevard. The League hotel was opened by Mr. Robert Ingalls. Oak Park Council, No. 18, Royal
League, was instituted in May, 1887. The water works were enlarged, incorporated and designed to
serve the whole town of Cicero. The fire brigade was organized. The Dunlop bank building was erected.
Incandescent electric lights were offered for lighting the town at $85 per lamp per annum. The Wisconsin
Central railroad was in operation, and took a Sunday school excursion to River Park in July, 1887. Trustee
Conway tendered his resignation to the town board, and Mr. W. A. Hutchinson was appointed trustee in his
stead. Messrs. Shoemaker & Rueff announced a new village directory for 1887. The stock for the new
water company was all subscribed for by the month of August. The League hotel was closed in Septem-
ber. Dunlop Bros.' bank opened December 1, 1887. The Oak Park club gave a grand ball in Hoard's hall.

Central Park and Brighton Park, precincts of Cicero, voted in favor of annexation to Chicago on
November 8, 1887. County Judge Prendergast declared the election illegal. The Chicago, Harlem &
Batavia dummy line passed into the hands of the Wisconsin Central. The first ball of the Oak Park
Band, in Steiner's hall, was numerously attended. A part of Moreland and Crawford voted for annexation
to Chicago.

78

KKSIIMCXCE OF D. J. KENNEDY 40'l Kenil

Decoration day, May, 1888, was observed with more than ordinary display. Hon. Walter Thomas
Mills lectured on "Intercollegiate Associations" in Steiner's hall, June 8. Plats for numbering houses
were adopted by the town board June 23. The Chicago, Harlem & Batavia suburban railroad line
(Wisconsin Central) was double-tracked and fully equipped to take passengers to Harrison street station
in Chicago, with seventy dummy and motor trains daily. Trustee Andrew Vogt was made captain of
police. The dedicatory exercises of the Scoville Institute took place in the Congregational church on
the evening of October 9, 1888, and a subscription was at once raised for purchasing books for the library
to the amount of $6,524, which was subsequently increased. Gen. Phil Sheridan's name was given to the
Grand Army post here, just as soon as his death was announced. Preparations were made for opening
Washington boulevard through the town.

The year 1889 started in grandly for the town. It inaugurated a new literary club, a new musical
society, a new high school, a new electric street railroad, a new boulevard, and many new houses going up
in all parts of the town, with new subdivisions platted in all directions. The Letters Club was organized
Monday, January 14, with Hon. Frank M. Palmer presiding. Forty persons became members at first
meeting. The Cicero & Proviso electric street railroad was incorporated with a capital stock of $250,000.
Mr. E. A. Cummings was the moving spirit in this enterprise. The Choral Union was organized in
January in the auditorium of the Scoville Institute, with 118 members, under the direction of Prof.
Robertshaw, of Austin.

THE PRESS.

Oak Park has now quite a number of periodical publications, some of them with large circulations.
Mr. E. O. Vaile started the first printing office in the town for his educational publications, in 1883. The
Alert was the name of the first local weekly paper. It was started in 1882 by two young men named Ely
and Schroeder, but it lasted only a few months. It was succeeded by a paper called Along the Line in

1884, which appeared rather irregularly for a number of months. Then came the Weekly Review in

1885, which was purchased by the Vindicator after a few months of unprofitable existence. The Dollar
Weekly Sun, printed at the Stock Yards by Goodall & Co., but publishing Cicero news, circulated here for

80

RESIDENCE OF JOHN I). ROSS 238 Nort

a while, but was discontinued shortly after the Vindicator made its appearance. The Lake Vindicator was
circulated here for a year or more with Cicero news before the Cicero Vindicator, published by William
Halley, appeared February 7, 1885; it came out in support of the new republican municipal party. It
aimed to cover both Cicero and Proviso. The Reporter was started May 19, 1887, by J. E. Kent, and was
purchased by Isaac Herr, September 28, 1888. Cordray Bros, published the Oak Park News for a couple
of years (1890 and 1891) as an independent local paper. The Oak Park Times, a little advertising- sheet,
made its first appearance in 1896, and was published three times a week by Mr. Richard L. Roe. After some
months it was reduced to twice a week, and finally to once a week. The Vindicator, the Reporter and the
Times continue to be published once a week. Mr. Halley issued a prospectus for a daily edition of the
Vindicator during the summer of 1897, before the Chicago Daily Tribune commenced the publication of a
suburban daily edition, giving- all the news of Cicero and Proviso every day and putting- a stop to Mr.
Halley 's contemplated enterprise. The Vindicato r was sold in November, 1897, to W. O. Cline, of Austin,
who is now its publisher.

No less than seventeen different periodicals are now entered in the Oak Park postoffice. Eig-ht of
these are educational publications, fathered by E. O. Vaile. They are as follows: Week's Current, Intelli-
gence, Rasy Lines, Sense Reader, Teachers' Magazine, Fresh Lives, Young Wide Awake and Educational
Reporter; all are monthly except Intelligence, which is semi-monthly. The others are the Message and
Deaconess Advocate, Grace Church Items, the Star, Life Insurance Courant, and the Sentinel; all are pub-
lished monthly. Schleswig Holstcin is a semi-monthly German paper. The Post is a German local weekly
newspaper, published at Harlem, by Frank Lehman. The Star is "A paper for young- folks," started
four years ag-o and enjoying- a large and growing circulation. It is published by Jos. R. Hunter. The
Sentinel \\ssi removed here in June last from San Francisco and enjoys a large circulation ; it is the official
organ of the Supreme Lodge Knights and Ladies of Honor. By the foregoing it will be noticed that
Oak Park has become quite a publication center.

KKMI>K.\X-K <>K K. S. THAIN 210 Home A

SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS.

The Oak Park Club was organized in the spring of 1890, with J. H. Hurlbut as president; H. S.
Towle, vice-president; William C. Warner, second vice-president; George Landis Wilson, secretary; H. J.
Ullman, treasurer. It took possession of the Scoville Place residence, July 4 of the same year, which it
occupied till the spring of 1893. July 18, 1893, the club purchased its present choice location at the north-
west corner of North Boulevard and Park Place, and on the 14th day of November following, the alterations
and additions were finished, and the establishment formally opened. Twenty-four thousand dollars was
paid for the ground and the residence then upon it, and a barn in the rear. It takes about $9,500 a year
to meet all the obligations of the management. During the year 1898 an accession of new members was
received on account of the disbanding of the Prairie Club, and the active membership is now about 250.
The main object of the club is to promote social intercourse. It maintains a dancing class, a whist club,
an athletic association and a banjo club. Entertainments of various kinds are of frequent occurrence.
The present officers are as follows: President, Fletcher B. Gibbs; first vice-president, Henry A. Taylor;
second vice-president, E. F. Malone; secretary, Farlin H. Ball; treasurer, Thomas H. Gale; Melancthon
Smith; directors, T. J. Skillen, C. L. Williams, Theodore F. Bliss, Dwight Jackson, A. E. Walters, Maurice
von Flatten. The Oak Park Club greatly enhances the enjoyment of life in this elegant suburb. It has
lately taken charge of the open air band concerts, which were inaugurated by the disbanded Prairie Club
four years ago. They are now given in the Scoville Place grounds, instead of the old Home avenue
location. As a matter of record it may be stated that the band employed is Brooks' military band, and the
night Thursday. The present is the fifth series of those concerts.

The Nineteenth Century Club is a leading woman's organization, with a membership of about
eighty-five. It was formed in October, 1891. It has departments in arts, literature, social economics,
and education. Its present officers are as follows: President, Mary E. Marsh; vice-president, Martha
P. Falconer; secretary, Grace D. Terry; treasurer, Minnie W. Ward. The board of managers consists
of the foregoing officers, and in addition, Anna L. Wright, Clara W. Seabury, Mary A. Wadsworth, Marie
C. Remick, Catharine L. Wright. This club is active and efficient. It meets in Avenue hall on the
second and fourth Mondays of each month, from October to May.

84

KM SIHKXCK OF MRS. C. I). PAIXK 1.4.1 X.n-tli Oak Park A

SUBURBAN TRANSPORTATION.

The improvement of transportation facilities to and from Chicago and cheapening1 the fares has
always been uppermost in the minds of the people of Oak Park. For many years they were altogether
dependent upon the stinted facilities offered by the Chicago & North-Western railroad. But the railroad
was here before the town, and the management affected to despise the local passenger traffic and did not
endeavor to accommodate itself to it and cultivate it. Formerly the patrons were required to build or
assist in building the station houses, and the conditions upon which commutation tickets were sold were
oppressive.

The Chicago & North-Western railroad line was built to Harlem (now Oak Park) in 1849, but the
traffic for a number of years was exceedingly limited. The facilities of the road were not ample, either.
They consisted at first of a single track of "strap " rails. The company had but few engines and cars,
and a couple of round trips a day were all that were made. Trains did not exceed two or three cars, and
were "mixed" and "accommodation" trains. The charge for a single ride to or from Chicago for a
passenger was at first forty cents, and commutation tickets were sold at the rate of thirty rides for $5.25,
or seventeen and one-half cents a ride, good only for the purchaser. Yearly tickets were sold for $60,
half-yearly tickets for $35, and quarterly tickets for $18. Those tickets allowed the holder to make as
many trips as he thought proper. After a time the single trip charge was reduced to thirty-five cents,
and when the "dummy "line came and began to cut into the business, the single fare was reduced to
twenty-five cents. Before the present commutation rate was established there were 10-ride and 50-ride
individual tickets that sold, respectively, for $1.70 and $5. The present schedule is twenty-five cents for
a single ride between Chicago and Oak Park; 10-ride unlimited tickets, $1.20; 25-ride unlimited, $2.50; and
60-ride unlimited, $4.75. It cannot be said now but what the accommodation offered by the Chicago &
North-Western steam line is good, the trains frequent and the commutation rates reasonable; but it took
competition to bring this desirable condition about. The company has four stations within the limits of
Oak Park, one of which, the Oak Park station proper, at Marion street, was erected in the fall of 1892,
at a cost of about $20,000, and is a creditable structure.

JESIDKNCK OF A. F. 1SANKS JK, Maple Avenu

The Chicago, Harlem & Batavia "dummy" line, which was a mere makeshift, ran between West
Fortieth street and the cemeteries, a length of about six miles. It was opened in 1881, and continued
making- uncertain trips until purchased by the Wisconsin Central company, November, 1887. Its charge
was ten cents a trip to Oak Park from West Fortieth street, and five cents more to the cemeteries. At
West Fortieth street it connected with the horse cars on Madison street for the city.

When the Wisconsin Central R. R. Co. took possession of the "dummy" line and fitted up the
road in good shape, with its terminus at Harrison street in Chicago, it was expected it would cut the
C. & N.-W. rates to Chicago at once, but it did not, merely serving out unlimited tickets instead of indi-
vidual tickets at the same rate per ride. This road (still known as the Chicago, Harlem & Batavia line)
double-tracked and finely equipped with rolling stock, commenced making seventy trips between Chicago
and Oak Park daily in June, 1888.

A pleasant surprise was felt when it was learned in February, 1889, that E. A. Cummings and D. J.
Kennedy, of Oak Park, and others, had formed a company to build and operate electric street railroads in
Cicero and Proviso townships, and had secured an act of incorporation, with a capital stock of $250,000.
September 16, 1890, the capital stock was increased to $1,000,000. Lines were built west from Fortieth
street on Madison street to the Desplaines river ; on Forty-eighth street north from Madison street to Lake
street; and on Lake street west to Oak Park; on Harlem avenue south to Madison street; and on Des-
plaines avenue to Waldheim and Forest Home cemeteries. The system was thrown open to the public in
1890. The charge is five cents a ride, with transfers. In 1892 the line was extended on Forty-eighth
street to Chicago avenue, and on Chicago avenue west to Harlem avenue, and on Harlem avenue south to
Lake street. Later, the Madison street line was extended across the Desplaines river to Maywood and
Melrose Park, and on Lake street to Fifth avenue in Maywood. The Cicero & Proviso has proved a great
boon to the people of both towns. The number of miles of track (single) in use is nearly thirty-eight. In
1894 the system passed into the hands of Mr. Yerkes and his company.

An associate line of the Cicero & Proviso is the Ogden line, organized in October, 1891, by the same
promoters, and like the C. & P. is now a part of the West Chicago system. It owns in operation thirty-
five miles of single track, with nine miles yet to be constructed. By the system of transfers in use

OLD STYLE DUMMY

as were formerly used between West Fortieth Street and Cemeteries.

between the two lines one can ride from the Desplaines river at Maywood east to Thirty-eighth street;
south on Thirty-eighth street to West Twenty -fifth street; thence west on the Ogden line to the village of
Lyons, across the Desplaines river, thus covering- the three sides of a square, making- altogether about
ten miles of travel for one nickel.

Another electric system that the-%own has the benefit of is the Suburban. It was organized in May,
1895. This was at first an opposition line to the Cicero & Proviso and the Ogden lines, but it, too, has
dropped into the Yerkes receptacle. The original company built an electric line west from the terminus
of the Metropolitan Elevated railroad at West Forty-eighth street to the village of La Grange, along Harri-
son street to Harlem avenue in Oak Park, thence south to Twenty-sixth street, thence with various curva-
tures west to La Grange, a total length of double track of nine miles. The original Suburban company
succeeded in leasing the tracks of the Chicago, Harlem & Batavia line (then belonging to the Chicago & North-
ern Pacific company) and changed the motive power to electricity; but before doing so, in order to gain a
concession from the town, gave a five-cent fare from Oak Park to the Grand Central depot in Chicago, us-
ing the lines of the former Wisconsin Central in the city. What the people had so long sought was at last
realized ; but the boon was not long enjoyed, because Mr. Yerkes stretched out his capacious paw, and
in July, 1897, gathered the Suburban line, with the Chicago, Harlem & Batavia, or the Chicago & Northern
Pacific (the name the line was last known by), into his vast possession. The junction with the Metro-
politan Elevated line was then discontinued and a junction made with the Lake Street Elevated line at
West Fifty-second street, one mile further north.

In February of 1898 the Cicero town board passed an ordinance extending the franchise of the Cicero
& Proviso Street Railroad Co. from twenty to fifty years, under the Allen law. Part of the consideration
is that the company (which is associated with the Lake Street Elevated Co.) shall sell tickets of twelve
rides for $1, good for transportation from Harlem avenue, the western extremity, to the Lake street
Elevated road, and over the same and around the loop in Chicago, the eastern extremity, on the Madison
street, Chicago avenue and Forty-eighth street tracks of the Cicero & Proviso road. Coupled with this is
the requirement that the Lake street elevated line shall be extended one mile further west to the edge of
Oak Park at Austin avenue, and that an incline shall there be constructed to enable the cars of a surface

90

line to be built on South Boulevard, to ascend to the elevated structure, and thus enable Oak Park and other
passengers to go down to the business district of Chicago without changing cars; and that the charge on
this route shall be twenty rides for $1 or five cents a ride. The ordinance provides that this contract shall
be in operation by October 15, 1898. Otherwise the Lake Street Elevated Street Car Co. shall forfeit a
bond for $25,000 in money, and lose the fifty-year franchise granted the Cicero & Proviso company by
the town.

THE SCOVILLE INSTITUTE.

The Scoville Institute is the creation of the late James W. Scoville, one of the principal founders of
the town. It is a gift from a man of many gifts. The subject of a free library for the villages of Oak
Park and Ridgeland engaged his attention first in 1883. His desire was to endow such an institution with
the munificent sum of $100,000, and to make it an ornament and an honor for the place and the people, as
well as a benefit to humanity. Early in 1883 he associated with himself a number of his neighbors and
friends as a board of trustees, and the institution was incorporated under the name of the Scoville Insti-
tute. A warranty deed, executed April 20, 1883, conveyed the ground to the board, and the first stone of
the foundation was laid October 15, 1884. The corner stone, with appropriate ceremonies, was lowered to
its place September 4, 1886. The dedication took place October 9, 1888. The style of the building is
American Romanesque. The material of the exterior is a bluish white limestone, quarried in the adjacent
township of Lyons. The roof is covered with slate from Monson, Me. The main construction of the
interior is fireproof, with brick walls, hollow tile partitions and iron beams with tile arches. The central
feature of the plan is an octagonal hall twenty-one feet in diameter, which is reached by a diagonal passage
from the large corner vestibule. The floors of all the halls are of white Italian marble, with a border of
red slate. The stairways are also of marble. The reference room on the first floor is laid with English
tile; the other public rooms have floors of maple. The woodwork of the front rooms in the second story
is mahogany, while the remaining portions are finished with red oak. The architects of this beautiful
structure are Messrs. Patton & Fisher, of Chicago, but both of them residents of Oak Park. The deco-
rative part of the work is artistic and harmonious. It stands complete in its design, its execution and

CHICAGO & NORTH-WKSTKKN R. K. DEPOT Norlli li,,iil,.V:iril ami Marion S1

effect, "A thing- of beauty and a joy forever " to the people of Oak Park. A glance at the diagram, printed
elsewhere, will show how complete are its equipments. The total cost to the donor was $115,049.27, the
building and furniture being- $82,049.27; the lot on which it is built (140X200 feet) $8,000; and an endow-
ment fund of $25,000. The books of the library association that before existed were removed on its open-
ing to the Scoville Institute, and the citizens subscribed about $8,000 for the purchase of new books. The
number of books now in the library is 11,384. The service is most excellent, and the librarian is a
young lady of superior intelligence and tact.

The following societies have their meeting place in the Institute: Grand Army of the Republic, Chau-
tauqua Circle, Nineteenth Century Club, Augusta Club, Historical Society, Rubenstein Club, Agassiz
Club, Golf Club, Camera Club and Sesame Circle. The officers of the Institute are as follows: President,
C. B. Scoville; vice-president, E. H. Pitkin; secretary, W. H. Hatch; treasurer, O. D. Allen; librarian,
Miss Cornelia Marvin. The trustees, in addition to the officers, are: John Lewis, George Eckert, Edward
Cook, N. G. Moore, O. W. Herrick, E. S. Conway, L. G. Holley, Wm. H. Wood and Jesse A. Baldwin.

OAK PARK HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

This society was organized May 30, 1898. Twenty-five ladies and gentlemen were present at the
meeting, which was held in the Scoville Institute. Those that signed the constitution and became members,
with the vear of their arrival here, are as follows: Mrs. Elizabeth Porter Furbeck, 1861; Mrs. Alice M.
Titus, 1861; E. O. Gale, 1863; Mr. and Mrs.O. C. Blackmer, 1866; Mr. and Mrs. A. O. Butler, 1868; W.H.
Wood, 1869; Miss Caroline C. Wood, 1869; A. J. Cheney, 1870; O. D. Allen, 1872; John Lewis, 1873; R. S.
Worthington, 1877; John B.Stevens, 1877; Mr. and Mrs. E. O. Vaile, 1880; Mrs. Isabel Lewis, 1882; Wm.
Halley, 1883; Mr. and Mrs. James L. Ward, 1885; H. D. Pierce, 1889; John E. Hunt, 1892; Wm. Ritchie,
1894. Several gentlemen who had avowed an interest in the new society, including O. W. Herrick and E.
S. Conway, were unable to be present. The following officers were chosen: President, John Lewis; first
vice-president, O. W. Herrick; second vice-president, Mrs. A. O. Butler; secretary, E. O. Vaile; treasurer,
R. S. Worthington; trustees for three years, E. S. Conway, Mrs. C. G. Marsh; trustees for two years, O.
C. Blackmer, Mrs. C. J. Ward; trustees for one year, H. D. Pierce, Miss Caroline C. Wood.

94

iiscontimu'd.

>ld" Dummy" line from Crawford avenue (now West Fortieth street) to the cemeteries. Purchased by the Wisconsin Cent
npany, and extended to the Grand Central depot, Chicago. Afterward leased by the Chicago & Northern Pacific
Company, that gave a five-cent fare to the city. Subsequently purchased by the Suburban Company. Now
owned by Mr. Yerkes and connecting with the Lake Street Elevated line at Fifty-Second Street.

'The object of the society is to collect and preserve material relating to the history of Oak Park and
vicinity. Any person signing the constitution and paying a fee of $1 can become a member. The meetings
are held in the Scoville Institute monthly.

THE FIRST RAILROAD FREIGHT.

The first railroad freight received in Chicago was over the Chicago & North-Western, and was shipped
at Oak Park. The shipper was Millican Hunt, of Franklin Grove, who has narrated the event in a late
issue of the Railway Age. It was in November, 1848.

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATING CLASS, 1898.

Colors: Green and white. Motto: "Certum Pete Finem. Officers: President, William Beye; vice-president, John
Bartow Patrick; secretary, Annie V. Luff; treasurer, Alice O. Ensign; color bearer, Clare H. Conklin.

CLASSICAL COURSE.

Josephine Ashlernan. Grace Mabel Crockett. Frank S. Hyman. John Bartow Patrick.

Clare Hart Conklin. Joseph R. Hunter. Louis Hooker Palmer. Emily Pitkin.

Alice Rose. Grace Emma Wilcox.

LATIN COURSK.

Maude Florence Back. Edwin A. Detrick. Jennie Villa Kirtland. Eliza Walker Moore.

Nellie Genevieve Barnard. Alice Orra Ensign. Elsie Mary McPherson. Sidney C. Niles.

William Beye. Gertrude C. Griggs. Frank Eddie Milligan. Mabel Marion Osgood.

Winifred Emily Coombs. Grace E. Hadfield. Owen J. Mink. Frank D. Parkhurst.
Florence Whaples. R. Archie Yerkes.

MODERN LANGUAGE COURSE.

J. Harry Blackstone. Agnes J. Goodwillie. Flora May Jewell. Iva M. Ruggles.

Grace Alleen Bliss. Linda Gertrude Holdrege. Annie V. Luff. Helene May Wallace.

Mannette Blackwell Boyd. Janet Clark Hollister. Edith E. Rosenberry. Arno E. Walther.
Lillie R. Ervine.

POPULATION OF OAK PARK

AT DIFFERENT PERIODS SINCE 1878, ACCORDING TO SCHOOL CENSUS.

1879, . . 1,608 1883, . . 2.476 1887, . . 3,767 1891, . . 5,152 1895, . . 7,520

1880, . . 1,812 1884, . . 2,515 1888, . . 3,907 1892, . . 5,558 1896, . . 7,726

1881, . . 1,913 1885, . . 3,117 1889, . . 4,269 1893, . . 6,264 1897, . . 8,298

1882, . . 2,074 1886, . . 3,399 1890, . . 4,589 1894, . . 6,906 1898, . . 8,740

^Bi»-^

NEW GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Ground has been broken for the new Grace Episcopal Church, on Lake street, opposite the Presbyterian
Church, and the work is in progress. A view is given on other side. The style of architecture is Fourteenth
Century English Gothic. The total length is 169 feet and greatest width 65 feet. The nave, including the
spacious narthex, is 111 feet long, and 53 feet wide from aisle-wall to aisle-wall. The chancel is 40 feet deep and
of the same width and length as the nave, the line of the nave arcading continuing through the chancel. It is
marked off from the nave by a chancel arch within, and without by a stone coping over the roof. The front
of the church faces the south, and has a tower on its west side 19 feet square and 80 feet high. The main
entrance is through this tower. The height of the church to top of roof will be 60 feet. The tower is massive
and handsome, and designed for a chime of bells. On the east side of the south front is an entrance porch.
Between the tower and porch is located the baptestry, octagonal in shape, and forming a prominent feature of
both the exterior and interior architecture.

The exterior walls will be of Joliet stone with Bedford stone trimmings. The interior walls will be of red
Roman pressed brick, with Portage sandstone arches and trimmings. The nave arcade is supported by polished
red Tennessee marble monoliths, with molded Portage stone caps and bases. The altar is raised nine steps above
the nave floor. Over the altar is a large four-light window, with stone tracery head, having on each side a single
light window with tracery heads. The chancel contains stalls for fifty-four choristers. The organ is located on
the east side ol the chancel. On the west side of the chancel is the chapel, with room for 75 persons. The
church has sittings for 760 persons, which, on special occasions, can be increased to 1,000. The cost is $50,000.
The architect is Mr. John Sutcliffe of Chicago, and the contractors are Hennessy Brothers and Evans Co.,
Chicago. It will not be finished but will be ready for occupancy early in the winter of the present year. The first
sod was turned by Mrs. Borwell, president of the Parochial Guild, on Wednesday, September 10, 1898. The
spade was furnished and sod cut by Mr. F. R. Bagley, president of the Men's Club.

Nothing sanctifies a place more than the memory of the good
men and women who have lived and died within it. The
deeds that were theirs, the words that they uttered, the ob-
jects they pursued, the help that they gave, the hope they in-
spired, the benefactions they made, are all worthy of being
treasured up and handed down in print to posterity. In a
small work like this we can do little more than make passing
allusions to the good people that have gone before us.

* * #

As the seed is sown so does the crop grow up and ripen.
Oak Park was fortunate in the fact that its first settler was a
good man and his wife a good woman. Other good men and
good wome'n were attracted here by the reputation of the ear-
liest settlers; they added something to the general welfare
and died regretted. In alluding to those worthies we can have
no hesitation in placing in the front rank the first father and
mother of the town, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kettlestrings. They
were most excellent people and no old settler speaks of them
only with the most profound respect. In business affairs Mr.
Kettlestrings was ever straightforward and honest. He was
generous to a fault and never took advantage of a man be-
cause it was "a business matter." Elsewhere in this work his
pioneer labors are described so far as our limits will allow.
Mr. Kettlestrings died in 1883. His wife soon after followed
him leaving a considerable family of children and grandchil-
dren.

* # #

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kettlestriiigs were the parents of
eleven children— four sons and seven daughters— only four of
whom are now living. William and Ann were born in Eng-
land. The former was drowned in 1850, and the latter died
of scarlet fever, at the age of 14 years, In Chicago. Hanna

Prances, the third child, was born in Cincinnati, Oct. 3d, 1832,
and became the wife of Samuel Dunlop, Sept. 26, 1855, who
died here Aug. 11, 1883, she soon after following him to the
grave, dying Nov. 4, 1883. The first child born in Oak Park
was Ellen Kettlestrings, the date of her birth being June 26,
1835. She lived only thirteen months and four days. Mary
was born Dec. 13, 1836, in Oak Park, and died Aug. 12, 1844,
in Chicago.

Joseph Willis was born in Oak Park, July 19, 1838; was
married March 26, 1865, to Mary Louise Whaples, and died in
Oak Park, Dec. 27, 1897. Dora Ellen was born in Oak Park,
Sept. 20, 1839; was married to O. W. Herrick, Dec. 19, 1860,
and is now the longest living resident of the town. Elizabeth
Jane was born Dec. 26, 1840; was married to Thomas J. Wors-
wick, December 26, 1864, and resides at 436 Chicago avenue,
Oak Park. Thomas Walter was born in Oak Park, July 19,
1842, and died Aug. 21, 1844. Mary Ann was born in Chicago,
Feb. 2, 1845; was married to William H. Yorke, May 1, 1873,
and resides at 468 North Kenilworth avenue. Walter N. was
born in Chicago Jan 24, 1849; was married to Rosemond Caro-
line Herrick, Oct. 18, 1871, and resides at 525 Marion street.

AUGUSTIN PORTER.

The second settler entitled to favorable mention, who is
now deceased, and left his impress on the surrounding neigh-
borhood was Augustin Porter, a man who was influential
enough in public matters to name the Township of Cicero as
well as the adjoining Township of Proviso. He was a public-
spirited man with an expansive mind and exercised a bene-
ficial influence in his day. He was the father of Mrs. Eliza-
beth Porter Furbeck, who is the oldest resident member of

BIOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT.

OUR DECEASED WORTHIES.

JOSEPH KETTLESTRINGS AND WIFE
100

the now Oak Park Historical Society. lie removed here from
a Proviso farm in I860, built the first brick residence and
acted in the capacity of justice of the peace. So far as his
means allowed he was a contributor to every worthy enter-
prise that made a demand upon him. He was born Aug. 20,
1797, at Pompey, Onondago county, N. Y., the same place that
gave birth to Jas. W. Scoville. His wife was Phebe Maria
Keeney, a very superior woman. lie came to Illinois first in
1S35, walking nearly all the way through Michigan and re-
turning later and bringing his family. After spending some
time in Chicago he farmed in Dupage county. Then he
bought a farm in Proviso, whence lie on me to Harlem, now
Oak Pnrk.

AMOS SQUIRE PACK.

This gentleman ranked high among the old settlers. He
was the last man who conducted the postoffice under the name
of "Noyesville." The office was located on the north side of
Lake street in the first block west of the old church, in East
River Forest, then called Harlem. He was last Senior Warden
of Christ Church, Harlem, and the first Senior Warden of
Grace Church, Oak Park. He was the father of Mrs. Chas.
Roe and Mrs. Joseph Harvey. He was a native of Morristown,
New Jersey, and came here in 1860. His death took place in
December, 1882, in the 73d year of his age, and he was buried
in Rose Hill cemetery.

HENRY W. AUSTIN.

One of the active men who exercised a fair share of influ-
ence here was Henry W. Austin. He came in October, 1859,
and built a residence, the grounds of which are yet of more

AMOS SQUIRE PACK.

than usual attraction and beauty. He was engaged in the
hardware commission business In Chicago and made money.
In 1866 he purchased of the De Koven brothers the farm on
which he started the village of Austinville, two miles east of
Oak Park, and which has now, as Austin, outgrown both Oak
Park and Ridgeland in population. He was elected to the
State legislature in 1870 and introduced the bill known as
the West Side Park Bill, which became a law and annexed to
Chicago two miles wide of Cicero territory. He also pre-
pared and introduced the State Temperance bill, which went
into force July 1, 1872. In 1871 he bought out the two or three
saloons then doing business in Oak Park and closed up the sa-
loon business here for good, having a guarantee from the town
board that no more saloon licenses would be issued.

Mr. Austin was a native of Skaneateles, Onondago County.
New York, where he was born Aug. 1, 1828. His early pur-
suits were those of the farm. He came west in 1858 and en-
tered the hardware business in Chicago and Kansas City. He
also established a live stock business at Colorado Springs,
Colo., in 1872. He was married Oct. 3. 1859, to Martha Sophia
Voorhees, who, although an invalid for many years, survived
him, but died in 1897, much regretted. Mr. Austin died sud-
denly at his home here in 1894. A son and daughter survive
both, occupying the family homestead. The former is of the
same name as his father and is engaged in the real estate and
banking business; the daughter is named Sophia, and Is a
most amiable and estimable woman, and is the wife of Mr. T.
Gardener Morris.

ville, the founder of the Scoville Institute. He first saw Oak
Park in the year 1848, while making a journey on foot from
Chicago to Beloit, Wis. There were not then more than one

JAMES W. SCOVILLE. or two houses in the locality. He was struck with the beauty

The man that did most for the upbuilding of Oak Park and of the place and while resting under the shade of a fine oak

whose memory will be the most enduring was James W. Sco- tree that occupied the elevated spot where the ScoviUe Insti-

102

tute now stands erect in its classic beauty, he vowed if he
ever had the means he would purchase the ground upon which
it stood. Six months later, returning by stage from Beloit,
he found that the Galena Kailroad (now the Northwestern)
had just reached the Oak Ridge from Chicago. Taking a
freight caboose he was one of the first to receive passage into
the city on. the first railroad out of Chicago. His first resi-
dence here was in the year 1856. In 1857 he purchased from
Mr. Kettlestrings the ground that he coveted and built a fine
family residence that was his home for nearly a third of a
century, and which has long been a conspicuous mark. At
this time his business interests were all in Chicago and he.
was frequently the only morning passenger from here into thej
city on the railroad.

His enterprises in Chicago were many and he made money
rapidly. In 1864 he turned his attention to Cicero property
and purchased 160 acres of land situated immediately east of
Oak Park avenue. This he ditched and drained at a ^reat
outlay of money, and laid stone sidewalks, planted trees and
graded streets. He subsequently purchased more property
and improved it in the same locality, and Ridgeland grew into
existence. He bought and built also in Oak Park proper. In
3883 he begun building his water works. In 1885 he planned
the Scoville Institute as a free gift to the town, and on Oct.
9, 1888, he beheld its dedication. A short history of this bene-
faction is given elsewhere. But the Scoville Institute was not
his only gift. He was a religious man and greatly devoted
to the Interests of the denomination with which he worship-
ped. The Congregational church of Oak Park, alongside
which stands the Institute, was largely contributed to by him.
The Chicago Theological Seminary, of which he was a direc-
tor, frequently felt of his munificence, and for the Beloit

(Wis.) College he built a hall, to which his name is given, at
a cost to him of $25,000. This building was dedicated on the
25th day of June, 1890.

On account of the condition of his wife's health Mr. Scoville
left Oak Park in 1888 and made the family residence at Pasa-
dena, Cal., himself and son, C. B. Scoville, making frequent
visits to Chicago and Oak Park. But Mr. Scoville's good
deeds did not cease with his removal hence. His new home
soon felt the effects of his munificence, and his contributions
to local objects were numerous, and even after death his es-
tate was a contributor to institutions that his heart favored,
i notably the Scoville Memorial Library of Carleton College,
Northfield, Minnesota, for which his family donated $25,000.
James Wilmarth Scoville was a native of Pompey, Onon-
daga County, New York State, where he was born October 14,
1825. When he had reached his twenty-first year he entered
the Oneida Conference Academy, not far distant from his
home, where he remained but a short time. Afterwards he
taught school in the day time and made shoes in the night
time. He spent two years at Manlius Academy. In 1848 he
turned his face westward and visited Chicago, where he re-
mained two or three weeks before he took that tramp to Be-
loit and became enamored of the Oak Ridge that he vowed to
to Mary A. Huggins, whose people then lived in that city,
make his home in the future. After a while he returned east
and worked for contractors on the Erie Canal at Fayetteville
and Buffalo. He was married In Albany, N. Y., Nov. 28, 1853,
In the fall of 1856 he returned to Chicago and secured the po-
sition of cashier with P. W. Gates & Co., Iron manufacturers.
Subsequently he entered the real estate business there and laid
the foundation of his large fortune. His death took place in
Pasadena, Cal., on Aug. 5, 1893. The blow came quick and

suddenly, and the regret for his demise was great. Memorial
services were held here and in several other places. His wife
and son survived him, but the partner of his joys and sorrows
has since joined the majority. Mr. Scoville's memory will be
ever kept green in Oak Park.

SAMUEL DUNLOP.

Among Oak Park's deceased worthies there is one whose
name is held in profound esteem by those who knew him
That was Samuel Dunlop, father of Simpson and Joseph K.
Dunlop, real estate dealers and bankers, and husband of Mr.
ami Mrs. Joseph Kettlestrings' eldest daughter, Hannah. In
May, 1862, the family moved to Oak Park from Chicago, and
Mr. Dunlop's ability and many virtues were soon recognized
by his neighbors and fellow citizens. He was pre-eminently
a broad-gauge man, altogether unselfish, cordial and kind. Mr.
Dunlop was a native of Belfast, Ireland, where he was born
June 2, 1824. Iii 1830 his parents immigrated to New York,
where they resided for seven years, then removed to Indian-
apolis, where Samuel learned the trade of printer. In 1849 he
went by the overland route to California. In San Francisco he
found employment for some time at his trade and afterwards
entered into a copartnership in the printing business, and was
successful. He returned on a visit to his family at Indian-
apolis, and going back to San Francisco found his partners
working on Sunday, which he did not like, and left the con-
cern. In 1852 he found his way to Chicago and entered into
copartnership with Alfred L. Sewell and opened a printing
office at 138 Lake street. Afterwards, in 1857, J. J. Spalding
was admitted to the firm, the style then becoming IHinlop,
Sewell & Spalding. After several years of prosperous exist-
ence the firm was dissolved, when Mr. Dunlop entered into

co-partnership with his brother and engaged in the wholesale
dry goods and notion business. At the time of the big fire,
in 1871, he belonged to the firm of Dunlop, Reade & Brewster,
which was burned out. In 1855 Mr. Dunlop married Miss
Kettlestrings, and in 1862 moved hither. He died Aug. 11,
1883, quite suddenly, in front of his residence on Grove ave-
nue. His wife survived him only three month^, and her
father, two weeks after her, expired of heart disease. The
Dunlops were leading members of the Methodist church, as
was Mr. Kettlestrings, and their sudden taking off was a
matter of profound sorrow. Mr. and Mrs. Dunlop left five
children to mourn their demise.

R. M. LACKEY, M. D.

Dr. Lackey was not an early comer to Oak Park, but he was
a man of distinction, was possessed of strong sympathies and
made many friends. He commenced practicing medicine here
in 1880, and took up his residence in 1883. He was born in
Harrison county, Ohio, Dec. 1, 1835, and was educated at
Franklin College, New Athens. In 1855 he went to Kansas,
then a territory, and lived there a year of the stormy period
of its political existence. He came to Illinois in 1856, living
»t Freeport, where he studied medicine. Afterwards he at-
tended lectures in Chicago and Cincinnati, graduating at Rush
Medical College In February, 1861. Then he entered the army,
acting as assistant surgeon to the Forty-second Illinois vol-
unteer infantry, and was subsequently changed to other regi-
ments. In December of 1863, he was promoted. In 1864 he
was appointed by President Lincoln as one of the corps of
staff surgeons, and assigned to duty in the department of
Arkansas as chief medical officer of the staff of General Sol-
omon. Later he was placed in charge of the general hospital

at Little Rock, Ark., where he served until mustered out, Nov.
20, 1865, and breveted captain for "faithful and meritorious
service." He was demonstrator of anatomy in Rush Medical
college during the lecture course of 1866 and 1867. His war
record was quite brilliant. He was a member of the Union
Veteran club, of Chicago, and George H. Thomas Post, G. A.
R., and subsequently Phil. Sheridan Post No. 615, G. A. R.,
of Oak Park. He was man-led in February, 1866, to Miss
Frances A. Hitchcock, a daughter of Rev. A. B. Hitchcock,
of Moline, one of the pioneer ministers of Illinois and Iowa.
He died at his residence in Oak Park, April 31, 1895, greatly
and deservedly regretted, as he was always a friend of the
soldier as well as of the poor. He left, besides his widow,
two sons, Robert Allen, born November, 1868, and Charles
Koland, born October, 1871. Both are now residing here in
Oak Park. Since her husband's death, Mrs. Lackey has
served as a member of the Oak Park school board and resigned
the position on account of removal to California for her health;
but she is now here.

T. ANDREW VOGT.

For a period of thirty-eight years there was no better
known man in Oak Park than Andrew Vogt. He came
here in 1856 and served the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad
Company as agent for 27 years, and the public in various ca-
pacities for eleven years. He was born in Ulm, South Ger-

many, in the year 1833. He left his native home at the age of
18 years to seek his fortune in America, and came to Oak Park
in *1856, where he was married. He resigned his position with
the railroad company in 1884 for the purpose of engaging in
the insurance business, which he successfully followed until
the day of his death, having the agency of no less than ten
companies. In 1885 he was elected to the town board as Col-
lector, in 1886 as Assessor; and during the period of 1887-8 he
filled the offices of Town Superintendent and Captain of Police
for Cicero. He was elected to the office of Justice of the Peace
in the year 1891. He was prominent in Masonic circles and for
25 years filled the office of Secretary for Harlem Lodge A. F. &
A. M. No. 540, and was also a member of Siloam Comn.andery
No. 54, Knights Templar. He was also for a time president of
a German benevolent society known as the Krankenverein. In
politics he was always republican, but in religion he was at-
tached to no denomination. He never failed to faithfully per-
form any duty to which he was assigned and as a prominent
member of the Cicero town board once remarked, "No man
ever questioned Andrew Vogt's motives." He was an exceed-
ingly fair man in every relation. His residence was on North
Boulevard, close to the railroad station.

He left a widow who now resides at 512 Meuomiuee street,
with her youngest daughter; also three sons and another
daughter, all of whom are married, excepting the young lady
who resides with her mother.

WORTHY OLD TIMERS.

MRS. MARGARET JANE WHAPLES,

Whose maiden name was Spitzer,was the wife of Reuben Wha-
ples, a pioneer of Oak Park and its second settler. She was

born Feb. 18, 1822, at Scloto, Ohio. She came to Illinois at an
early date with her parents. She was married to Mr. Wimples
at her father's house, which was situated on a farm at the

head of the "Little Woods," near the Fox river, In the year
1839.

Mr. Rueben Whaples was born in Hartford, Conn., In the
year 1800 and came to Chicago in 1838. He purchased a farm
in Du Page county about five miles southeast of Elgin, 111.,
where he lived for a while and sold out. Thence he removed
to a farm In Proviso township where his house was blown
down in the great wind of April 21, 1845, and he determined
to leave the locality, selling his farm. His next move was
to purchase a farm at Kettlestrings' Grove, where he built a
large and substantial log house on the corner of Lake street
and Harlem avenue, the site of which is now occupied by the
fine residence of Mr. Christian Schlund. Here he resided un-
til the year 1855 when he sold his land to Mr. J. H. Quick
and went to live in a vacant hotel on the west side of the
Desplaines river until he got possession of a farm which he
had purchased at Udina, about five miles west of Elgin. The
family lived there about a year, when Mr. Whaples got a
good offer for the place and sold out. They then moved back
to Kettlestrings', Mr. Whaples purchasing land of Mr. Kettle-
strings, and for a while occupying the old Kettlestrings home-
stead on the south side of Lake street, near Harlem avenue.
He subsequently built a good, substantial frame house, which
is now the manse of the Presbyterian church on Lake street,
.and resided there until his death, Oct. 20, 1865. Mr. Whaples
was a very enterprising man and fond of speculation, a good
neighbor and a good citizen. He was a tinner by trade.

Mr. and Mrs. Whaples were the parents of nine children-
six girls and three boys. One boy died when two and a half
years old; the rest are alive and married, and reside in or near

Oak Park, except the oldest daughter, Mrs. J. N. Spickerinan,
who went to Kansas with her husband, but now resides near
Talala, in the Indian Territory. The second daughter married
Joseph Willis Kettlestrings, lately deceased; the third and
fourth daughters are the wives of Mr. Delos Hull, of Oak
Park, and Mr. T. M. Hull, of Wheaton; the fifth daughter is
the wife of Mr. W. F. Furbeck, of Oak Park; and the sixth
daughter is the wife of Dr. John Tope. The eldest sou mar-
ried a Miss Elliot, of Kansas, and the second son a Miss Raine.
Mrs. Whaples, the relict of the pioneer, is now in her 77th
year and enjoys fairly good health, although her memory and
hearing are not the best. She occupies a comfortable home
at 341 N. Boulevard, with her son, George, and enjoys visiting
with her daughters and friends who reside here. It is 53 years
since she first came to Oak Park, and is only surpassed in long
residence by Mrs. O. W. Herrick, who was born here in 1839.

MILTON CLEVELAND NILES

Was born in Spencertown, Columbia county, New York
State, February 20, 1827. He was educated in the common
schools of the day, and in Academies at Great Bar-
rington. and Westfield, Mass. He came to Chicago and
traveled by stage and the Illinois river to St. Louis, up the
Mississippi to Galena, thence by stage through the new pros-
perous towns of northern Illinois, to Oak Ridge, now Oak
Park, at which place he arrived in August, 1847. He returned
to New York and in March, 1848, again started for Illinois,
traveling by "mud-wagon" four days and five nights through
Canada, and by stage and lake to Chicago; and again through
Oak Park to Belvidere; thence through the pineries of Wiscon-
sin, where his brother was engaged in the lumber business.

Returning to New York he was married to Mary Caroline
Bailey, on the 15th day of May, 1848, at her father's home In

North Salem, Westchester county, New York. H;iving seen (lie
opportunities and enterprise of the then new West, he could
not remain in the dull East. His wife cheerfully joined him in
the enterprise of being partial pioneers in the "Wild West,"
and in the fall of 1852 they settled on the "Parsons Farm,"

known as one of the first settlements in Du Page county, 22
miles from Chicago.

In traveling thence by wagon to Chicago, the way was
through Oak Ridge, and it naturally occurred to him that its
proximity to the city made it a good place for investment. Ac-
cordingly, in the fall of 185C he purchased the property on
Marion street, south of Lake street, with the east frontage op

107

Park Place— ten acres— and in the spring of 1858, having sold
his property in Du Page county, he came with his wife, daugh-
ter and two sons to Oak Ridge to live. Having children to edu-
cate, and realizing the increased value of property on account
of educational facilities, in 1859 he,- with the late J. W. Scoville
and Mr. Flowers, being school directors, purchased for the dis-
trict the east half of the present central school grounds and
built thereon the central portion of the building. The same
year he built the house in which Mr. Hoard now lives on Ma-
rion street and used the whole block as his residence lot. The
same year Mr. Niles was elected Supervisor of the Town of
Cicero and held the office by re-election five years, and acted
as chairman of the Finance Committee of the county board
during the rebellion.

In 1863-64-65 he purchased that part of the Village of May-
wood lying south of the C. & N. W. R. R., having paid' but $20
per acre for the first 160 acres; and in 1868 sold the 360 acres
to the Maywood Company. In 1865 and 1866 he purchased the
40 acres south of the C. & N. W. R. R. depot, in Oak Park,
deeded one-half interest in snme to J. W. Scovillp, nnd they
having subdivided It as Scoville and Nlles' subdivision, built
the first four houses on Maple avenue in 1867. He also pur-
chased the 49 acres east of Home avenue and between the C.
& N. W. R. R. and Madison street. In 1864 he built the house
known as the Park House, on Marion street, using the block as
a residence lot. Mr. Niles was school director for a few years
in the early days, taking great interest in the welfare of the
same. He has had large interests in manufacturing and in-
vention. Has been a liberal patron of social and religious move-
ments, and now. in 1808. after a residence in Oak Park of 40
years, and having passed the "golden milestone" in married
life, with a family no link of which has been broken, he should
be truly grateful for these unusual allotments of Providence.

ELIJAH W. HOARD.

No name of Oak Park's many residents is better known than
that of Elijah W. Hoard, who came here in 1864. Mr. Hoard

was born in Middleborougli, Plymouth county, Massachusetts,
September 9, 1812, and is now in his eighty-seventh year, and
the oldest resident of the town.

The desire so common in those days to "go West" came upon
him and he spent several years in western localities before he
came to Oak Park in 18C4, and entered into the real estate busi-
ness. He bought the house in which he resides on Marion
street and four acres of land of Mr. Sweet, in section 7 of Skin-
ner's subdivision, but the house was originally erected by Mi.
M. C. Niles.

In 1876 Mr. i-I. built the first brick business block in the town
at the corner of Lake and Marion streets, the dimensions of
which are 50x82 feet, four stories high. The cost of this was
$14,000. In this building is the first public hall ever provided
in Oak Park, and in its top story is the hall of Siloam Com-
mandery, No. 54, Knights Templar. In one of the stores in this
building he carried on a grocery store for several years. Mr.
Hoard served as school trustee for the township of Cicero, in
which Oak Park is situated, for several years, and as justice bl
the peace for four years. In politics Mr. H. was originally a
democrat, and gave his first vote for president to Martin Van
Buren. For many years, however, he has been a republican
with prohibition tendencies. He is a member of Unity church,
and the first meeting to organize that church was held in his
house on the 1st day of February, 1871.

He was married in Chicago to Miss Ellen Gurley, a native of
Hartford, Connecticut, November 9, 1858. The lady is alive
and well and a most estimable person, beloved by all who
know her.

In 1891, when on a visit with his wife to Florida, Mr. Hoard
received a fall that has lamed him ever since and confined him
to his home, yet he is able to attend to his business affairs.
He is remarkable for invariable kindness of disposition and
serenity of mind, and there is no better neighbor. Mr. and
Mrs. Hoard have no children.

ORIN PEAK, M. D.,

Who is still with us, was an early settler in Oak Park and
its first physician. He was born in Bethel, Windsor county,

Vermont, March 22, 182C. In 1829 his parents removed to Del-
aware, Ohio, and he removed' with them. From the autumn of
1846 to January, 1851, he was engaged as teacher among the
Choctaw Indians, west of Arkansas. He commenced the study

of medicine in Louisville, liy., early in 1851, aiid graduated at
Michigan University in March, 1854, and in September of that
year commenced the practice of his profession in Jefferson,
Cook county, 111. From January, 1855, to July, 1857, he filled
the office of county physician. On October 1, 1861, he removed
to Kacine, Wis., where he practiced his profession. In January,
1863, he was appointed assistant surgeon of the Twentieth
Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and in August, 1864, was pro-
moted to surgeon. After the war he settled in Oak Park,
where he practiced medicine and subsequently opened the first
drug store in the place. His office was first in a house at the
northeast corner of Lake street and Forest avenue, where the
Methodist-Episcopal Church now stands. That house was re-
moved away. He then built a house at 135 Lake street, where
Armbrust's greenhouses (about to be removed) now stand. In
1873 he built the handsomest store building then ou Lake
street, and continued to carry on his drug business and reside
there until he sold out to Gale & Block!, in 1885. In Septem-
ber, 1873, he relinquished the practice of medicine in conse-
quence of an injury he received by being thrown from his
buggy, causing concussion of the brain. Dr. Peak was mar-
ried first in 1865 to Miss Emily Boutwell, who died in 1874;
his second marriage was to Mrs. Mary A. Lewis, sister of Mrs.
Reuben Whaples, but they have no issue. At the time of this
publication Dr. Peak is able to be well about but he attends to
no particular business.

ORIGEN W. IIERRICK

Is an active man and a prominent "Old Timer." He came to
Oak Park first on a visit to his relative, J. W. Scoville,
in the summer of 1859. He taught the public school for five
years, served as our first postmaster and as a member of the
town board. He was married to Dora E. Kettlestrings (now

the longest resident inhabitant of the town), in December, 1860.
He is engaged in the insurance business in Chicago with Mr. E.
W. Lyman. He is a member of the Congregational Church and
belongs to the Masonic and Odd Fellows' lodges. He is a native
of Onondago county, New York, and came West in 1859, re-
maining in Oak Park, and assisting In its development and
growth. He occupies a fine residence at 307 North Oak Park
avenue.

EDWARD F. ROBBINS,

An old citizen, is not a very "old timer," as he did not come
to Oak Park till September, 1872. But he is a venerable
and highly esteemed old gentleman who is still "in the
harness," making or repairing harness, and is the pioneer har-
nessmaker of Oak Park. For a time he had Mr. J. J. Brown as
an apprentice and afterwards as a partner. He resides at
Ridgeland with three of his daughters. He was elected justice
of the peace in May, 1880, but resigned the office in the latter
part of the year 1883. He was born in New York city. June 20,
1816, and did business in Hartford, Conn., and other places for
many years before coming West. He is now in his eighty-third
year.

FRED J. KNOT!

Is an "old timer" and was here before 1871. His place of
birth is Leicester, England. He came to this state with his
father in the year 1849, residing first for a year in Chicago. In
Elgin he was engaged in the grocery business with his father,
who was a leading merchant of the place, and acted as local
agent for several insurance companies. In the year 1867 he took
up his residence in Oak Park, since which time he has been
identified with insurance interests, holding responsible posi-
tions with prominent companies,

PROMINENT BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL MEN.

EDWIN S. CONWAY

Is a man among men. He took up Irs residence in Oak
Park, where he has a fine home at 226 Maple avenue, in the

yt-ar 1875. He is secretary and general superintendent of the
great W. W. Klmball Piano and Organ Company of Chicago,
a company which Is now the most extensive of its kind In the
world, and whose instruments go out to all lands. He is a
native of Ontario, Canada, (his parents having moved there
from Syracuse, N. Y.) where he was horn in the year 1850,
when he was very young, removing to Pepin county,
Wis., and two years later to Lake City, Minn. In 1869 he be-
came first associated with Mr. W. W. Klmball, as an agent
for his musical instruments. In 1875 he came to Chicago and
was given charge of the wholesale department of Mr. Kim-
ball's business. It was then that he came here with his family.
In the year 1882, the business was formed into a stock com-
pany, at which time Mr. Conway was given an interest in. it
and appointed to his present position. Since then the business
has gi-own amazingly and now has agencies in all parts of the
globe, which are under his superintendence, and he is neces-
sitated to be frequently absent visiting them. The factory
in Chicago now employs no less than 1,325 hands and the num-
ber is soon to be greatly increased, as a great addition to the
factory Is now in course of construction.

But Mr. Conway Is many-sided and has given his attention
to other things besides pianos and organs. He was elected a
member of the Cicero Board of Trustees in 1882 and was
chosen president of the same in April, 1883, and continued in
that capacity until his regie-nation in l?88.-on account of the
pressure of other affairs and for reasons that were of a do-
mestic nature. For two or three years he wns engaged in a

116

couple of railroad projects, and is yet Interested somewhat in
an Iowa line. He took a hand in real estate, and Conway Park
in River Forest Is the result. After the departure of Mr. Sco-
ville to California he became the president of the Cicero Wa-
ter, Gas & Electric Light Company, and continued in that
capacity, rendering gratuitous service, until the company sold
out last year to strangers. From the date of its institution
Mr. Conway has been a trustee of the Fcov ll-> Institute.
He is one of the founders of Cicero Lodge No. 217 of the In-
dependent Order of Odd Fellows and is one of the most prom-
inent members of the order in the jurisdiction of the Sov-
ereign Grand Lodge, to which he is the Grand Representative
from this state and chairman of its finance committee. He is
one of the principal promoters of the Odd Fellows' Orphan's
Home at Lincoln, and of the Old Folks' Home, now in course
of erection at Mattoon.

There never was a local object or organization in Oak Park
that his generous desire was not outstretched to help, the new
Historical Society being the latest subject of his attention and
membership.

He and his family hold communion with the Baptist Church
in Oak Park and have been members of it almost since its or-
ganization.

In Chicago Mr. Conway holds membership in the Union
League Club and the Athletic Club, and he is some'hiug of an
athlete, too. : ^ * '

All human affairs have for him an interest, and love of
country has an especial hold upon him. He traveled four
months in Europe last winter and spring with his wife and
daughter, and returned home with the conviction strong upon
him that there was no country like America. He is an ardent
republican and is high up In the councils of his party. Fre-

quently he has been urged for office— for congressman, for gov-
ernor and even United States senator— but has always de-
clined; not but what he has the ambition, but he has always
felt that the great business with which he is identified has a
prior claim to his time and attention.

Mr. Conway is happy in his family relations. He was mar-
ried Dec. 25, 1871, to Miss Sarah Rogers, of Mansion, Wis., an
r.ccomplished and most worthy lady. They have two sons and
one daughter: Earle E. has grown to man's estate and is a
successful traveling agent for tlie Kimball Company; Carle C.
is a student at Yale; and Sybil Sara is a young lady who
graces Oak Park society, but is now at school at Monti- olio,

EDMUND A. CUMMINGS

Is a wonderful man of affairs. He was taught to say his
prayers in his youth, but if he says them now the wonder must
be how he gets the time. He is a resident of Oak Park. He
is not an old man by any means, but his experience is wide
and varied. He was born in Lowell, Mass., Nov. 29, 1842, and
is therefore in his 56th year. He has risen from "printer's
devil" to be a real estate and transportation baron.

He came West with his parents in the year 1855 and settled
at Elgin, 111., where he resided until about 1860. He received
his education in the public schools of Chicago and at the Elgin
Academy.

His first employment was as apprentice in the office of the
Elgin Gazette, which he entered at the age of 16. After serv-
ing an apprenticeship there he went East and engaged on the
Vermont Journal at Windsor, Vt., as local editor. That was
then the leading paper of that state. In 1862 he returned to
Illinois and enlisted in the 127th Infantry, serving throughout

tlu war. Ho followed the (lag into Vicksburg, was at Mission-
ary Ridge and participated In the memorable march to the sea.
At the close of the war, in 1865, he returned to Chicago and

entered the office of S. M. Moore, who at that time was con-
ducting an insurance business under the name of Moore &
Stearns. Soon after a real estate branch of the business was

opened, to which Mr. C. was admitted as a partner, and in
1S77 became the head of the flrm, then and since known as E.
A. Cummings & Co., and as one of the leading real estate firms
of Chicago.

Mr. C. was the principal promoter of this Cicero & Proviso
Electric Street Railroad Company and also of the Ogden line
in the town of Cicero, with tracks and trollies in a number of
streets.

He is president of the Union and State Construction Com-
panies and director in the Security Title and Trust Compiny.
Ho is a trustee of the Proviso and Union Land and Building
Associations, who o\vn large tracts of land in Maywood and
its vicinity. He was one of the organizers of the Chicago Real
Estate Board and Its third president. Mr. Cummings and h:s
tirin own land all over Chicago and suburbs anl he 1< said 10
be worth a cool million.

Mr. ('iimmii)gs' home is at 241 North Lornb ml av mi-,
where he has resided since 1873. and enjoys an elegant he me-
stead. His domestic relations are pleasant and there is no
more respected lady than Mrs. Cummings. Their children are
all full grown, with two sons and one married daughter.

HENRY D. PIERCE.

The subject of this sketch came to Oak Park from Toledo,
Ohio, :n 1880. No man ever gained the good will of the people
in shorter time. He is popular, proved and trusted. He has
been president of the Town of Cicero for two years and Is
now president of the Oak Park School board. Being a man
of capacity and considerable ambition, and not yet too old.
there is no telling what the future has in store for him. <

Henry T>. Pierce is a native of the Green Mountain State.
He was born in Cavendish, Vermont, May 26, 1846. His early
education was neglected but he made up for this in after

years. At, the age of 18 he enlisted In the Seventh Vermont
Veteran Volunteer regiment, Aug. 16, 1864, and was stationed
!n New Orleans, La., until the spring of 1865. He participated
In the battles of Spanish Fort, Mobile, etc.. went with his regi-
ment to mouth of the Rio Grande, Texas, remaining there
unti1 mustered out in July, 1865.

Returning to his native state he attended school at home for
a time; then he entered Newberry Seminary, at Newberry, Vt.,
and ntted himself for college. He entered Dartmouth Collego
in the fall of 1868, and was graduated in 1872. Then he came
West and was made principal of the Toledo High School, in
Toledo, Ohio, •which position he filled from the fall of 1872 to
February. 1875, when he resigned the position to become man-
ager of the Toledo Marble Company, a branch of the Vermont
Marble Company of Proctor, Vermont. For four years he was
a member of the Toledo Board of Education, resigning when
he came West.

In 1882 he established branches for this Company at Detroit..
Cincinnati and Cleveland, and had general charge of them :ill
unt'i the year 3S89, when he was placed in charge, as man-
ager, of the Western Branch of the Vermont Marble Company
nt Chicago, taking up his residence in Oak Park.

In Oak Park he scon became a man of mark whose opin'on
was frequently consulted, and his popularity became more pro-
nounced every day. In 1895 he was nominated on an indepen-
dent ticket for president of the town of Cicero, and was elect-
ed. In 1896 he was placed on the Republican town ticket for
the same office and was triumphantly e'ected. In fie capacity
of town president he was wonderfully successful, being
chlelly instrumental in extricating the town from great finan-
cial embarrassment. He succeeded in collecting $20,000 from
the C. B. & Q. railroad for the viaduct over Robinson avenue;

$10,000 forfeited by the Lake Street Elevated railroad for fail-
ure to construct extension; got judgment against the city of
Chicago for $50,000, due on annexation award, and sold the

judgment to F. A. Hill for $43,000, thus providing the town
with much-needed funds. It was during President Pierce's
administration that a 5 cent fare was secured for the people of

Cicero over the Northern Pacific suburban line into the Grand
Central depot in Chicago. That advantage was abolished on
the road dropping into the hands of Mr. Yerkes last fall, but
a suit is pending to compel its restoration. Mr. Pierce was
strongly urged to run for another term as supervisor of the
town, but he declined.

Last spring Mr. Pierce was elected president of the Oak
Park school board, where his long experience of school mat-
ters has rendered his services of great value.

He is president of the Dartmouth College Alumni Associa-
tion of Chicago and vicinity, which numbers about 150 mem-
bers. He is a member of the Episcopal church and is a ves-
tryman of Grace Episcopal Church, Oak Park.

Mr. Pierce was married in the year 1874 in Toledo, Ohio,
to Miss Mary E. Hill, of Toledo. They have two children liv-
ing, a daughter and a son, both well grown, the latter, Harry,
being a student in the High School. The place of the family
residence is 133 South Grove avenue.

OSCAR D. ALLEN

Was born at Pierrepont Manor, N. Y., June 1, 1833, and
lived there until the year 1866. In his youth he attended the
district public school and Union Academy at Belleville, N. Y.
He engaged in merchandising in his native place before at-
taining his majority, keeping a country store until 1863, when
failing health compelled him to seek out of doors employment;
and for some time he was engaged In the live stock trade be-
tween Canada and the states. Having regained his health in
1866 he engaged in the dry goods and clothing trade In Adams.
N. Y.

After five years of successful business in Adams, fearing the
effects of further confinement in a store, he sold his Interest

in Adams and came to Chicago to visit his father-in-law, the
late Nathan T. Holley, who had become a resident of Oak
Park. While here he became interested with Messrs. Holley
& Smith in a purchase of real estate, and in 1872 moved his
family Into the house he has ever since occupied at 432 Lake

street. For several years he was actively engaged In the grain
trade and is a member of the Chicago Bo;>rd of Tr;ide.

In politics Mr. Allen is and ever has been a republican, cast-
ing his first presidential vote for John C. Fremont, in 1856. and
since that time for every Republican nominee for that office.
He has been honored by his townsmen by being elected to of-

flees of responsibility. He held the office of postmaster at
Pierrepont Manor, N. Y., and was Deputy Collector of Internal
revenue under the administration of Abraham Lincoln. He
uas elected supervisor of the town of Adams, New York, but
came to Oak Park before the expiration of his term. In 1879,
during his absence from the state he was elected trustee of
schools for the town of Cicero, and served in that capacity nine
years. In 1888 he was elected president of the town, being the
first president of the town elected by the people. In 1889 he
was elected to the office of County Commissioner and has been
re-elected five times successively.

Mr. Allen was married in 185C to Augusta B. Holley. Four
children, have been born to them, two of whom are living, viz..
Mrs. Geo. M. Woodward and Miss Grace H. Allen.

Mr. Allen was selected by the late J. W. Scoville as one of
the- trustees of Scoville Institute and has served the board as
vice president, librarian and treasurer. He is a member of
Harlem Lodge F. & A. M., and has served as W. M. and trea-
surer. Himself and family are members of the First Congre-
gational Church, where for eighteen years he served as one of
I lie trustees.

JESSE A. BALDWIN

Has been a resident of Cak Park for th;- past twelve years.
He Is an attorney of great ability and wide reputation. With
a vigorous mind and a robust body he is a remarkable worker,
and devotes to every cause he tries his fullest capabilities with
the most untiring energy. He is a native of Greenwood, Mo-
Henry county, this state, and was born August 9, 1854. His
education was received in the common school of his native
place. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in April,
1879, since which he has had a most successful career. His

first appointment was that of Assistant United States Attor-
ney at Chicago. That office he resigned in 1883 to take up pri-
vate practice, in which lie had associated with him his brother.

Henry R. Baldwin. He is in Chicago a member of the Union
League and Hamilton clubs, a member of the Senate of the

Chicago University and a trustee of Rush Medical College. In
Cicero lie tilled the office ot Town Aiioruey lor one year, declin-
ing to longer hold the office; he was president of the Oak Park
Board of Education for four years, and is a member of the
Board of Trustees of the Scoville Institute. Honors have come
to him unsought. The law firm of Baldwin & Baldwin ranks
very, high and has an extensive general practice in all the
courts.

Mr. Baldwin's domestic relations are most happy. He was
married January 29, 1879, to Miss Fannie M. Benton, and is the
father of four children. He occupies a handsome residence of
his own at 341 Pleasant street. He is a member of the Baptist
church, to which he is much devoted. His law office is at 708
Reaper block, Chicago. Oak Park is justly proud of her dis-
tinguished citizen.

ruary 13, 180:i, to Miss Elizabeth J. Keed, by whom he has had
one son and three daughters. The former, Henry R. Pebbles,
is a practicing lawyer, who held the position of town attorney

ALONZO W. PEBBLES.

The oldest of all the establishments located in the Oak Park
business district on Lake street, is that of A. W. & S. E. Peb-
bles, the senior member of which is the subject of this sketch.
Mr. Pebbles conies of revolutionary stock and was born in
Wyoming county, New York, in 1842. When <inite young his
parents moved to Wisconsin and in that state lie grew to man-
hood. In 1866, Mr. Pebbles located at Oak Park and three
years later established the painting, paper lian.irng and decor-
ating business, in the conduct of which ho is still actively en-
gaged at 144 Lake street. Samuel Ei:g>ne Pebbles, his brother,
who was for many years a partner in the concern, died on
May 15, 1898, his interest being now owned by his widow.
The firm of A. W. & S. E. Pebbles has always done an exten-
sive and lucrative business, and employs more lal or than any
other private concern in the village.

Mr. Pebbles was married at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, Feb-

in 1894. 1895 and 1890, while the surviving daughters are Jes-
sie P. Ingalls, wife of Robert S. Ingalls, and Margaret C. Peb-
bles. The third daughter, Emily Louise, wife of Charles P.

Miller, died in the year 1896. Frank M. Pebbles, the well
known portrait artist who resides here, is his brother.

No man is more highly appreciated in the business com-
munity for his many merits. He was elected to the Cicero
Town Board in 1883 and again in 1884. The following year
he declined the iiouiiuation for business reasons. He is a mem-
ber of the masonic fraternity and of Grace Episcopal Churcli.

FRED A. HILL

Is not a resident of Oak Park, but of Ai stin; but he is a
contributor to Oak Park's progress and welfare as a house-
builder and home provider. He is a typical western man full
o' vim and daring. He is an active worker in furtherance of
ali improvements for the good of the town and much credit
for building up and beautifying Austin and Oak Park Is due
to his energetic efforts.

During the past five years he has built in the two towns up-
wards of 150 houses and has put in several miles of streets
and stone walk in his five subdivisions. He has at present ten
modern houses ready for sale, varying in price from $5,000 to
$30,000, built to accommodate the constantly increasing de-
mand for suburban residences, with cheap transportation and
all the comforts of life at hand, and free from the contamina-
tion of saloons and demoralizing influences. The schools of
Oak Park and Austin are among the best to be found any-
where. Churches, societies, literary institutions and organi-
zations of men, women and children abound, and no matter
what a man or woman's religious belief may be, they have
here the most perfect freedom of worship and association. One
of the most practical reasons why it is desirable to seek a
home in Oak Park or Austin is the fact that property, owing
to the great number of improvements constantly being made,
is steadily Increasing in value.

Mr. H111 Is a native of Chicago and possesses the business

vim that is characteristic of the men of the great western me-
tropolis. He was born on the 24th day of February, 18(52. ami
is therefore In his 37th year. He removed to Austin in 1881
and was married to Miss Marie Bartelme of that place in 1886.

He is the father of two children-the eldest a boy aged 10
years, and the youngest a girl of 7. Mr. Hill now resides with
his family at the southeast corner of Washington Boulevard
and Central avenue, Austin.

NORMAN S. 1'ATTON, ARCHITECT.

When the trustees of the Scoville Institute sought to carry

out the purpose of the donor in the erection of a building, they

first secured competitive designs from six of the leading archi-
tects of Chicago. None of these designs, however, met the
approval of a majority and the trustees made Mr. Scoville a

committee of one to secure a new design. Acting on this au-
thority Mr. Scoville presented a design which met wiih tli •
unanimous approval of the trustees and which since its trans-
lation into substantial form has met the approval of the pub-
lic of Oak Park. Not until after the selection of the design
did Mr. Scoville reveal the name of the author, Mr. Normand
S. Patton, a young architect of Chicago. During the erection
of the Scoville Institute Mr. Patton made the acquaintance of
Oak Park and in 1888 he removed here with his family.

Mr. Patton was born in Hartford, Conn., in 1852, but was
brought to Chicago in 1857 by his father, Rev. Wm. W. Pat-
ton, D. D., who became pastor of the First Congregational
Church and afterwards the founder and first editor of the
"Advance" newspaper.

After a general education in the Chicago public schools and
a full course in Amherst College, Mr. Normand Patton com-
menced his professional career by a course in architecture at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After a few years
experience as a draughtsman in Chicago, Mr. Patton went to
Washington, D. C., where for several years he held an im-
portant position in the office of the supervising architect of the
Treasury Department. Resigning this position to travel and
study in Europe he returned for a short time to Washington
and then to Chicago, where he opened an office as an architect
in 1883.

Before the completion of the Scoville Institute Mr. Patton
took into partnership Mr. Reynolds Fisher, under the firm
name of Patton & Fisher. The work of this firm is known in
Oak Park by the remodeling of the First Congregational
Church, the Second Congregational Church, Wm. Bey school,
Gas Company's office building, Seoville's business block and
numerous residences. The Chicago Academy of Sciences in

119

Lincoln Park is sufficient (o mark the work of this firm as
unsurpassed in Chicago and numerous libraries, colleges,
schools, churches, etc., in many states, an- witnesses <>( a well
deserved reputation.

The distinguished work done by Mr. I'atton in school and
other educational buildings led to his election in 1896 as I lie
architect of the Board of Education of Chicago, in which ca-
pacity he now plans all the public school buildings of the city.

Mr. Patton, while conducting an independent otlice for the
Board of Education, still retains his connection with f.ie )i :n.
which has recently been strengthened by the addition of Mr.
(.'rant C. Miller, and is now known as Patton, Fisher & Miller.
Mr. Patton has been active in many ways outside of his pro-
fession, having held the presidency of the Chicago Congrega-
tional Club. As the founder and president of the Chicago
Municipal Improvement League, he led the movement that s .--
cured the Lake Front park to Chicago, ami was the first t.>
srggest to the public the necessity for a great park along the
Desplaines river.

Mr. Patton resides at 225 North Grove avenue. lie is mar-
ried and the head of a happy family.

CHAS. F. DRECIISLKR.
Oak Park can claim among its many ct
sessions a number of successful business m
of these is Mr. Charles F. Drechsler, the v
taker and furniture dealer. He was born ai
ucation in this neighborhood, and his frier

tier valuable pos
?n. Not the Itasi
•ell known under-
d received his ed-
as and associates

have good reason to feel proud of his success.

He entered the employment of Mr. J. W. Senne, some four-
teen years ago, and by his energy and strict attention to bus-
iness won his employer's favor and confidence. The business
continued to grow at the old Senne stand, 105 Lake street, to

such an extent that the premises became altogether loo small
and cramped, and in 1889 Mr. Senne, in conjunction with a
couple of his neighbors, erected a block of four fine three-story
brick stores; two of which wore Senne' s property. Into these

tlit, business was removed, and it prospered amazingly, with
Mr. Drechsler as Mr. Senne's able assistant. In July 1, 1894,
Mr. Drechsler became the proprietor of the concern. The re-
sponsibility he assumed was very great for so young a man.

but he faced it manfully, his capital being mainly his good
reputation and excellent character. He had two large stores
with heavy rent to meet every month. He had his purchase
notes to meet as they fell due, but he never defaulted. He had
to purchase expensive new hearses and horses, and give his
personal attention to every branch of the business, which in-
creased from day to day.

He Is now thoroughly equipped in every department, but to
his undertaking he gives more of his personal attention than
any other, and those who employ him are so well satisfied with
his work and his charges that they will recommend no other,
and his reputation has gone so far abroad that his patronage
extends far and wide.

Besides undertaking and furniture selling and repairing, he
does upholstering. He supplies storage room and does ex-
pressing, making a specialty of piano and furniture moving.
He is a very busy man, and we have great pleasure in present-
ing hie portrait herewith as one of Oak Park's foremost and
successful business men.

Mr. Dreehsler will soon abandon his present premises to oc-
cupy premises of his own, now in course of erection on the
north side of Lake street, and ajoining the new Masonic
building on the east. There he has in course of erection, un-
der the supervision of Architect Roberts, a four-story building
of a superior order, and constructed of steel, brick and stone,
the front being of Roman pressed brick, with Bedford stone
trimmings, the entire structure being fire-proof, and will be
the only fire-proof building west of Ashland avenue, In Chi-
cago.

The entrance to the building will have a Mosaic floor, Ro-
man pressed brick wainscoting and oak panel ceilings. The
two interior rooms will be finished according to a special de-
tail and will be unsurpassed by anything in Chicago.

MR. WILLIAM H. HATCH,

Whose portrait we present herewith, is an educationalist of
rare ability. He has been Superintendent of Schools In Oak

Park since July 1, 1892, succeeding Mr. B. L. Dodge, who re-
signed to accept a more lucrative position. Professor Hatch
is a native of Indianapolis, Ind., and is 52 years of age. He re-
ceived his education in Minneapolis, Minn., where he com-

121

menced his career as a teacher In the public schools In the
spring of 1868. He went thence to the city of Duluth in 1870
and organized the school system of that thriving young city.
There he was married in the year 1876 to the present partner
of his joys and sorrows. He was afterwards connected with
the schools of Indianapolis, Council Bluffs, Rock Island and
Moline.

He came from Moline to Oak Park in 1892 and has been here
since then superintending our schools and acting as secretary
to the Board of Education, at first receiving a salary of $2,500,
which was subsequently raised to $3,500 per annum. Mr.
Hatch has held the most cordial relations with the Board of
Education and our corps of most excellent teachers as well as
the patrons of the schools, since he assumed the arduous duties
of his office in Oak Park, and his salary ha* been advanced
from time to time without any solicitation on his part. He is
considered "the right man in the right place" and his continu-
ance in his present position is looked for.

iness in that line so successfully carried on by Mr. George
Nordenholt, at 140 Lake street, he entered into its puruslt with
intelligence and a determination to succeed. That was in

MR. ALFRED BURGESS.

Among the many successful business men of Oak Park no
one is more marked than Mr. Alfred Burgess, the well-known
baker, confectioner, and caterer. Mr. Burgess came here first
as a resident. That was in 1886. He was then employed in
the great wholesale grocery house of Sprague, Warner & Co.,
of Chicago. He built for the use of himselt and family a
pleasant home at 719 Belleforte avenue. The more he saw of
Oak Park and its people the better he liked them, and in the
course of time he determined to enter into business here. His
knowledge was not by any means confined to the grocery trade.
as he had already had eighteen years' experience in the bak-
ing, confectionery and catering trade, and buying out the bus-

1894. He has relaxed no effort and prosperous as the business
was before it came into his hands, it has been so in a more
marked degree since. He looks after every detail personally,

trusting implicitly to no one, making sure that everything is
always as it should be.

He bakes no less than seventeen different kinds of bread
daily in order to meet the tastes and requirements of all his
customers, and the people of Oak Park are fastidious about
what they eat. They will have none but the very best. He
makes cakes and pastry of every kind and those who have use
for wedding cakes (who in Oak Park are many) always leave
their orders with him or his polite attendants.

An Important branch of his business is the manufacture of
ice cream for private customers and for the trade, and the
Burgess brand. of this delicious article is not surpassed by
any manufactured in Chicago or anywhere else.

Next in popularity with his ice cream is his soda water,
which is served from pure fountains with purest juices and
extracts by polite attendants.

There is a large patronage for Mr. Burgess in catering for
festive and social occasions, and the orders in this branch of
his business keep his telephone hot.

Some three years ago Mr. Burgess extended his business by
opening a branch at 453 North Boulevard, which is also a suc-
cess, and the number of his employes now Is seventeen.

Herewith we have pleasure in presenting a most excellent
likeness of the man who does so much to appease our hunger
and minister to our appetites.

ERASTUS SIPPERI,Y.

This gentleman Is a prominent manipulator of Oak Park real
estate, his lots and acres being mostly in the southern end of
the town, where he is constantly operating on a considerable
scale, there being no time of year when he falls to make sales.

He Is now in the prime of life and is a most affable gentle-

man. He Is a native of Hudson, New York, where he was born
Sept. 4, 1857, and has passed his forty-first milestone. He re-
ceived his education in the common schools of his native town
and the Hudson academy, but was brought up on a farm. He
came to Chicago In 1878 and engaged with the management of

the Palmer House, where he remained for ten years. In 1888
he engaged in the real estate business with D. A. McLean &

Co., and six months later entered into the business on his own
account, devoting his energies to the sale of Oak Park lota and
acres, especially in the vicinity of Twelfth street. He first took
up blocks 8 and 9 on Oak Park avenue and Twelfth street, sub-
sequently extending his interests until he got control of hun-
dreds of acres in that vicinity, and now sells more Oak Park
lots and blocks than any other dealer. His property is now
served by several street railroads, especially on Twelfth street,
which is destined in time to be continued as a business street
from the city westward through Cicero. His city office is in
the Owlngs building, corner of Adams and Dearborn streets.

Mr. Sipperly was married in 1882 to Miss Charlotte B. New-
man of Hudson, New York, and is the father of a son, an only
child.

WARREN F. FTJRBECK

Is an old and a well-known citizen of Oak Park, who is en-
gaged in the street railroad transportation business with Mr.
C. T. Yerkes, and is vice-president of the North Chi-
cago Street Railroad Company. He was born at Duanes-
burg, N. Y., in 1848, and in 1861 came with his father to Chi-
cago and settled in Oak Park in the year 1866. His wife is
one of the Whapels family, which was the second family to
settle here. Mr. Purbeck has held many prominent positions
and was treasurer of the Oak Park Ecclesiastical Society that
preceded the Congregational church, for several years, and was
treasurer and clerk of the Congregational church for ten years.
He occupies for his residence that beautiful house and fine
premises at Home avenue and Pleasant street, a view of which
is presented in these pages.

FERDINAND HAASE.

of Harlem, referred to in beginning of this Book.)

RALPH WADE,

(Deceased Oak Park Pioneer, referred to in beginning of this Book.)

Why be your own

landlord, instead of paying rent?

You can

Buy a Home in Austin or Oak Park,
same as those in cut on

...Terms
Same as Rent..,

CROUP OF F A. HILL'S HOUSES

New, Modern, Convenient Houses— Eight and Nine Rooms— Large Deep Lots— Wide Improved

Streets — Fine Neighborhood. Choice of Six now built

or will build to suit. Get my Prices and Terms p A j— 1 1

c 1 1 5 MONROE ST., CHICAGO

before buying..

NICHOLAS ARMBRUST

Palms to Rent for
Social Occasions

Bedding Plants and Vegetable
Plants in Season

Cut Flowers and Funeral Designs,
Garden and Flower Seeds

OFFICE, 141 LAKE STREET

Office and Greenhouses

Corner Randolph Street and Harlem Avenue

THREE POINTS OF EXCELLENCE:

Careful in Execution

•• Prompt in Delivery

Fair in Price

Geo. M. Ambrose

Progressive Printer

1 38 LAKE STREE r

OAK PARK, ILL.

^ -*, •%, The Greatest Factory of Them All ^ •*- '*•

The W. W. Kimball Co., the Largest Producers of Pianos and Organs in Existence.— Their Present Factories One-Half

Times Larger than Those of Any Similar Institution. — The Factories have 14 Acres Floor Space. — With the

New Addition they will then contain 18 Acres. This will make the Works Double

the Size of any Piano and Organ Factory on the Qlobe.

The following description is taken from a Chicago Musical Journal, and as the establishment is one with which
Oak Park people are identified, it will prove of much interest:

It is always a pleasant duty for
an editor to chronicle facts. Hence
it is a pleasure at this time to state
in these columns that we have in
the city of Chicago, the largest pro-
ducing Piano and Organ factories
in the world. The W. W. Kimball
Co. are not only the largest pro-
ducers by one- half, but their present
factories are one-half time larger than
those of any similar establishment.

This is not all. This great cor-
poration will shortly commence
work on an additional building, 80 x 400 feet in dimensions,
and five stories in height. This, with the present mammoth
factories, will give the institution 18 acres of floor space.

The capacity of the present works is 50 organs and 40
pianos per day. The company are at present turning out, in
midsummer, 38 pianos and 45 organs per day. The necessity
for immediate extension of the present works for the fall
trade is apparent. When the proposed addition is finished,
these mammoth factories will have a total capacity of 55
pianos and 60 organs a day.

Seeing is believing, and when a representative of the
Indicator, in company with an official of the Kimball corpo-

ration, visited these enormous fact-
ories last week and tramped for a
whole half day, without cessation,
over the different floors of this
institution, he came to the conclusion
that the half had not been told about
the great Kimball Factories.

There the Indicator man saw, in
midsummer at that, 1,325 employes
at work on full time. There he also
saw machinery that saves the labor
of as many more as are now em-
ployed, men unloading lumber and
coal from vessels at the extensive shipping docks, and rail-
road freight cars passing through the lower courts of the big
building and stopping only long enough to take on the 38
pianos and 40 organs, the day's output, for shipment to all
parts of the civilized world. There he saw many things that
go to make up the whole of the greatest institution of the
kind on earth. Not only skilled labor and intricate machinery,
but everything that makes a model piano and organ factory,
backed by unquestioned financial standing, sufficient to make
and market a thousand pianos and organs a day if the corpo-
ration saw fit to undertake the task. - The Indicator, Chicago.

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